Southern Airways Flight 242
| Occurrence | |
|---|---|
| Date | April 4, 1977 |
| Summary | Multiple engine failure |
| Site | Dallas, Georgia, United States |
| Aircraft type | DC-9-31 |
| Operator | Southern Airways |
| Registration | N1335U |
| Passengers | 83 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 70 (including 8 on the ground) |
| Injuries | 22 |
| Survivors | 21 |
Southern Airways Flight 242 was a Southern Airways DC-9-31 registered N1335U that executed a forced landing on a highway about 4 miles north-east of Dallas, Georgia, United States after suffering hail damage and losing both engines in a severe thunderstorm on April 4, 1977.
At the time of the accident, the aircraft was flying from Huntsville, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia. Sixty-two people on the aircraft (including the flight crew) and eight people on the ground died; 21 passengers survived, including the two flight attendants.
NTSB investigation and report
The NTSB investigated the accident and concluded the following Probable Cause in its majority report, issued on January 26, 1978:[1]
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the total and unique loss of thrust from both engines while the aircraft was penetrating an area of severe thunderstorms. The loss of thrust was caused by the ingestion of massive amounts of water and hail which in combination with thrust lever movement induced severe stalling in and major damage to the engine compressors.
The NTSB also included the following Contributing Factors:
Major contributing factors included the failure of the company's dispatching system to provide the flightcrew with up-to-date severe weather information pertaining to the aircraft's intended route of flight, the captain's reliance on airborne weather radar for penetration of thunderstorm areas, and limitations in the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control system which precluded the timely dissemination of realtime hazardous weather information to the flightcrew.
Francis H. McAdams, one of the four NTSB members, dissented with the other members and filed the following Probable Cause in the same report:
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the captain's decision to penetrate rather than avoid an area of severe weather, the failure to obtain all the available weather information despite having knowledge of the severity of the storm system, and the reliance upon airborne weather radar for penetration rather than avoidance of the storm system. The penetration resulted in a total loss of thrust from both engines due to the ingestion of massive amounts of water and hail which in combination with advanced throttle settings induced severe stalling in, and major damage to, the engine compressors, which prevented the crew from restarting the engines. Furthermore, if the company's dispatching system had provided the flightcrew with timely severe weather information pertaining to the aircraft's intended route of flight, it is possible that the severe weather would not have been penetrated.
McAdams also added the following Contributing Factor:
Contributing to the cause were the inadequacies of the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control system which precluded the dissemination of real-time hazardous weather information to the flightcrew.
See also
Notes
External links
- AOPA Air Safety Foundation narrative (including cockpit voice recorder transcripts)
- Southern 242's Final Flight (including list of passengers and other information)
- Pre-accident photo of accident aircraft N1335U on February 1974
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