Delta Air Lines Flight 191
On the afternoon of August 2, 1985, a Lockheed L -1011 of the American Delta Air Lines crashed during the approach to the airport from Dallas. The Delta Air Lines Flight 191 was previously started in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and should after a stopover in Dallas continue to fly to Los Angeles. In the accident a total of 135 people were killed, including 8 of 11 crew members, 126 of the 152 passengers and a person came on the ground. In this plane crash is one of the few crashes of commercial aviation, which is based directly on a heavy downburst and wind shear.
Aircraft
In the crashed plane, it was a Lockheed L- 1011-385 - 1 TriStar with the aircraft registration N726DA. The aircraft was handed over to Delta in 1979 and was at the time of the crash six years old.
Crew
The flight was conducted by Captain Edward "Ted" Connors, First Officer Rudolph " Rudy " Price and Second Officer Nick Nassick. The three men were stationed in Atlanta. At the eight-member, in Miami / Ft. Lauderdale stationed cabin crew were Fran Alford, Jenny Amatulli, Freida Artz, Vickie Chavis, Diane Johnson, Alyson Lee, Joan Modzelewski and Wendy Robinson.
Crash
The aircraft took off from the landing approach over Louisiana, as the Captain Connors discovered a thunderstorm is building up and the original route changed to avoid turbulence.
The weather in Dallas was similarly poor and in the vicinity of the airport developed thunderstorm cells. The cockpit crew noticed this, but decided to continue the landing approach, the aircraft was hit by a downburst.
At a height of 800 feet (240 meters) above the ground, the airspeed increased through a critical wind shear. They reached a value of 173 knots (320 km / h) rather than the target set for the landing speed of 149 knots (276 km / h). Suddenly the speed, caused by strong updrafts back and fell to 119 knots (220 km / h). The first officer Price tried to preserve in the ever-changing wind conditions, the control of the aircraft. A lateral gust ultimately led to an increase in the angle of attack and resulting from a stall.
Approximately 6300 feet (1920 meters) north to the end of the runway, the aircraft crashed on the first time and bounced back into the air. During the flight of the Texas State Highway 114, it bounced again, and it hit a passing car with one of the engines. The driver was killed instantly. A lamppost further damaged the wing root, which ignited the fuel tank. The aircraft collided with two water tanks on the ground and exploded.
Most of the survivors of flight 191 were located in the rear of the cabin, which had already dissolved before the collision. Among the casualties was the IBM computer engineer Philip Don Estridge.