1994 — July 2, USAir Douglas DC-9 Flight 1016 approach crash/fire, Charlotte, NC — 37

— 37  Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. “Crash of a Douglas DC-9 in Charlotte: 37 killed.”

— 37  Cohn. Disasters and Heroic Rescues of [NC]. Chap. 16, “The Crash of Flight 1016.” p159.

— 37  NTSB. “Flight into Terrain during Missed Approach USAir 1016, DC-9-31, N954VJ.”

 

Narrative Information

 

NTSB Executive Summary: “On July 2, 1994, about 1843 eastern daylight time, a Douglas DC-9-31, N954VJ, operated by USAir, Inc., as flight 1016, collided with trees and a private residence near the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, shortly after the flightcrew executed a missed approach from the instrument landing system approach to runway 98R. The captain, first officer, one flight attendant, and one passenger received minor injuries. Two flight attendants and 14 passengers sustained serious injuries. The remaining 37 passengers received fatal injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of-the accident, and an instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed. Flight 9096 was being conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Columbia, South Carolina, to Charlotte.

 

“Probable Cause.   The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable causes of the accident were: 1) the flightcrew’s decision to continue an approach into severe convective activity that was conducive to a microburst: 2) the flightcrew’s failure. to recognize a windshear situation in a timely manner, 3) the flightcrew’s failure to establish and maintain the proper airplane attitude and thrust setting necessary to escape the windshear; and 4) the lack of real-time adverse weather and windshear hazard information dissemination from air traffic control, all of which led to an encounter with and failure to escape from a microburst-induced windshear that was produced by a rapidly developing thunderstorm located at the approach end of runway 18R.

 

“Contributing to the accident were: 1) the lack of air traffic control procedures that would have required the controller to display and issue airport surveillance radar (ASR-9) weather information to the pilots of flight 1016, 2) the Charlotte tower supervisor’s failure to properly advise and ensure that all controllers were aware of and reporting the reduction in visibility and the runway visual range value information, and the low level windshear alerts that had occurred in multiple quadrants: 3) the inadequate remedial actions by USAir to ensure adherence to standard operating procedures: and 4) the inadequate software logic in the airplane’s windshear warning system that did not provide an alert upon entry into the windshear.” (NTSB)

 

July 3, AP: “Charlotte – A USAir jet crashed Saturday while trying to land here during a thunderstorm. The plane sheared off the tops of telephone poles….Most of the injuries were from the impact, others were from burns and smoke inhalation….

 

“Flight 1016…had taken off from Columbia, S.C., before crashing at about 6:40 p.m., officials said. The flight was to continue on to Memphis, Tenn….

 

“The plane smashed into trees and sheared off the top of telephone poles then broke into three large pieces after hitting the ground…The rear section…slammed into a house….

 

“Crews rescued several passengers who were trapped in the crumbled rear section, which caught on fire….

 

“One of the seven injured people being treated at Presbyterian Hospital was a motorist who was in a car hit by debris from the crashing plane….

 

“Witnesses said the plane came in low less than half a mile from the airport….” (Associated Press. “USAir jet crashes, kills at least 18.” Times-News, Burlington, NC, 7-3-1994, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “USAir jet crashes, kills at least 18.” Times-News, Burlington, NC, 7-3-1994, p. 1. Accessed 6-1-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/north-carolina/burlington/burlington-times-news/1994/07-03?tag

 

Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. “Crash of a Douglas DC-9 in Charlotte: 37 killed.” Geneva, Switzerland. Accessed 2-27-2016 at: http://www.baaa-acro.com/1994/archives/crash-of-a-douglas-dc-9-in-charlotte-37-killed/

 

Cohn, Scotti. Disasters and Heroic Rescues of North Carolina. Chapter 16, “Terrain! Terrain! The Crash of Flight 1016, 1994.” Guilford, CT: Insiders’ Guide, an imprint of the Globe Pequot Press, 2005.

 

National Transportation Safety Board. “Flight into Terrain during Missed Approach USAir 1016, DC-9-31, N954VJ.” Investigations. Accident Reports. Accident Report Detail. Washington, DC: NTSB. Accessed 2-27-2016 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AAR9503.aspx