1980 — June 12, Air Wisconsin flight 965 crash (storm, engine failure), Valley, NE — 13

— 13  Kebabjian. “1980 Accident Details.” Planecrashinfo.com.

— 13  NTSB AAR. Air Wisconsin, Inc.,…Valley, Nebraska, June 12, 1980. 12-9-1980, p. 1.

 

Narrative Information

 

Kebabjian: “Accident Details

Date:               June 12, 1980

Time:               15:46

Location:         Valley, Nebraska

Flight #:           965

Route:             Appleton, WI – Minneapolis, MN – Lincoln, NE

AC Type:         Swearingen 226TC Metro II

Registration:    N6505….

Aboard:           15 (passengers: 13  crew: 2)

Fatalities:         13 (passengers: 11  crew: 2)….

 

“Summary: After penetrating a thunderstorm massive amounts of water cause both engines to lose power. Although the engines were restarted the crew could not recover and crashed into a field. Engine failure due to massive ingestion of water into both engines. Crew error. Unwise decision to enter an area of thunderstorms. Critical weather not disseminated.” (Kebabjian, Richard. “1980 Accident Details.” Planecrashinfo.com.)

 

NTSB. “Synopsis. About 1546 c.d.t., on June 12, 1980, an Air Wisconsin, Inc., Swearingen SA-226 Metro, operating as Flight 965, crashed near Valley, Nebraska. Flight 965 encountered severe thunderstorms while at an altitude of less than 6,000 ft and experienced a simultaneous loss of power to both engines because of massive water ingestion. Although the engines were subsequently restarted the aircraft crashed in a field and was destroyed. Of the 15 persons aboard Flight 965, 13 were killed and 2 were injured seriously.

 

“There had been thunderstorm activity in the vicinity of the accident site for several hours, and a severe storm warning had been issued for the Omaha area. The meteorologists in the Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) had alerted supervisory air traffic control personnel of the severity of the weather conditions; however, the information was not disseminated to the controllers or to the flightcrew of Flight 965.

 

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the flightcrew’s continued flight into an area of severe thunderstorms, and the resultant precipitation induced flameout or loss of power of both engines at an altitude from which recovery could not be made.

 

“Contributing to the cause of the accident was the failure of the flightcrew to utilize all available sources of weather information and the failure of the air traffic control system to disseminate critical weather information to the air traffic controllers and to the crew of Flight 965, the failure of air traffic control supervisory personnel to accomplish key job functions, and the failure of Center Weather Service Unit meteorologists to disseminate critical weather information to the Omaha Radar Approach Control Facility supervisors. Also contributing was the precipitation induced X-band radar attenuation which limited the ability of airborne weather radar to detect the extent and intensity of the weather disturbances.” (NTSB. Aircraft Accident Report. Air Wisconsin, Inc., Swearingen SA-226 Metro…Valley, Nebraska, June 12, 1980. 12-9-1980, p. 1)

 

Newspapers

 

June 13: “Valley, Neb. — Battered by a violent thunderstorm, an Air Wisconsin plane slammed into a muddy soybean field, killing 12 of the 15 people aboard, authorities said. One survivor of the late Thursday crash was in ‘very, very critical’ condition early today at St. Joseph Hospital in Omaha, said spokesman Bob Culvar. ‘It’s unbelievable anybody lived long enough to get to the hospital’ said Capt. J.P. Wintle of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department. Flight 965, a twin-engine turboprop plane en route from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Lincoln and Grand Island, hurtled into a ditch.” (The Capital, Annapolis, MD.  “Plane crash.” 6-13-1980, p. 2.)

 

Fatalities[1]

 

Berg, Gene, 41, Grand Island, NE.

Erickson, Ellen, 60s, Sayre, PA.

French, Leta, 21, Minneapolis, MN, died six days later in hospital.[2]

Gallmeister, Nicholas, 28, Menasha, WI, co-pilot.

Grab, Peter, 37, Appleton, WI, pilot.

Healy, 27, Menasha, WI.

Krueger, John, ~25, New Richmond, WI.

Lampila, Dan, 27, Springville, NY.

Leach, Vicky, 19, NE.

Payne, Gladys, ~74, Willmar, MN.

Reese, Ethel, 71, Lincoln, NE.

Rumsey, Walter B., 52, Lincoln, NE.

Wilson, Thomas, 36, Madison, WI.

 

Sources

 

Fremont Tribune, NE. “Flight 965 memories still linger.” 6-10-2000. Accessed 6-24-2017 at: http://fremonttribune.com/flight-memories-still-linger/article_2e49e05a-9cea-541c-a393-33325f0d82dd.html

 

Kebabjian, Richard. “1980 Accident Details.” Planecrashinfo.com. Accessed 6-24-2017 at: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1980/1980-30.htm

 

National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Air Wisconsin, Inc., Swearingen SA-226 Metro, N650S, Valley, Nebraska, June 12, 1980 (NTSB-AAR-80-15). Adopted 12-9-1980, 65 pages. Accessed 6-24-2017 at: https://www.fss.aero/accident-reports/dvdfiles/US/1980-06-12-US.pdf

 

The Capital, Annapolis, MD. “Plane crash.” 6-13-1980, p. 2. Accessed 6-24-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/annapolis-capital-jun-12-1980-p-43/?tag

 

Wisconsin State Journal, Madison. “Crash turns reunion plans into tragedy.” 6-14-1980, Section 4-1. Accessed 6-24-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/madison-wisconsin-state-journal-jun-14-1980-p-35/?tag

 

[1] Wisconsin State Journal, Madison. “Crash turns reunion plans into tragedy.” 6-14-1980, Section 4-1.

[2] Fremont Tribune. “Flight 965 memories still linger.” 6-10-2000.