Notify me of follow-up comments by email. WebSouthern Airways Flight 242 was a flight from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to Atlanta, Georgia, with a stop in Huntsville, Alabama. Just over a mile west of the runway, there was a hill with a tree. The problem was that it was not much more than a 300 m. long strip, barely the width of a cyclepath and challenging for a Cessna 172. Here is a table from the report which shows: As you can see, the first call certainly appears to be the height over the runway elevation. Its beginning to lighten up a little bit on the ground here at ah seven hundred feet. The first officer continued to monitor the instruments as they descended into the dark, unaware of the rising terrain surrounding their destination. The analysis revealed that both the pilot's and the first officer's instruments may have malfunctioned. WebWelcome to Atlantic Airways. 
I remember reading an article about this tragedy several years ago. In 1970, it was still very expensive for an airport to install Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) for their runways and non-precision approaches were much more common. ldeesegarvis. Following procedure, they can descend another two hundred feet and then they continue to fly at 400 feet above the ground until they make visual contact with the runway. This student made a video about Southern Airways flight 932 as his National History Day Project on Tragedy and Triumph (which, to be honest, I watched with the sound off). So the altimeter could have gained those 300 feet in the impact. In this scenario, it is much more useful to know your height over mean sea level, rather than know that you are 400 feet over whatever it was you just flew over, without knowing if it was a hill or a valley. WebSouthern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 domestic United States commercial jet flight from Stallings Field (ISO) in Kinston, North Carolina, to Huntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) near Captain: That the approach? Perhaps most striking to me is the fact that it was a unfamiliar airport. It makes me wonder. Chip, SAR or Surveillance Approach Radar has also been used, but did not show the aircraft height of course. On the 14th of November in 1970, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashed on final approach to the Huntington Tri-State airport in West Virginia, killing all 75 on board. This would require the airplane to level off and turn around. The report also noted that the craft approached the Catlettsburg Refinery in the final 30 seconds before impact, which "could haveaffecteda visual illusion produced by the difference in the elevation of the refinery and the airport," which was nearly 300ft (91m) higher than the refinery, with hills in between. This system is completely separate from the captain's and first officer's normal static pressure systems, except that it is available as a backup source for their instruments, if However, since the tops of the trees were more than 300 feet below MDA, leveling off earlier would not likely have prevented the crash. The report describes the conditions that night when the DC-9 was on approach as follows: The terrain under the approach path was irregular with numerous hills of varying heights. The point I am trying to make is: If a crew wants to do something that is legal, but not conform to normal standard practise, at least they should have discussed it before initiating the approach. It was unveiled to thousands 90 minutes before the game with the Miami University RedHawks. So it isnt surprising that they werent all that worried about the chart. [12] Lengyel was named to take Tolley's place on March 12, 1971, after Dick Bestwick, the first choice for the job, backed out after just one week and returned to Georgia Tech. The larger folded airway charts still would arrive by mail. If the captain still didnt respond, which can happen when someone is fixated, and the situation did not improve, then the first officer would be expected announce that he was taking control of the aircraft and to put full power on and climb away. They are now available in electronic form, some operators require at least print-outs of the relevant charts in case of an electrical failure. Similarly, the use of out-of-date charts, laughed off by the crew as normal, wasnt followed up on in the recommendations, other than a vague statement that the FAA should keep a closer eye on airlines. He didnt have the power to insist on an action or take control of the aircraft. Jeppesen is meticulous and extremely complete. Theres also the point that neither the crew nor the charter coordinator thought it was a big deal that the approach plate was out of date. The team originally planned to cancel the flight, but changed plans and chartered the Southern Airways DC-9. A second possibility is that he was not using his barometric or radio altimeter, but rather was relying solely on the first officer for altitude information. This may still be the case, I dont know. I learned a few new acronyms in this post, which made it all the more interesting. That said, I have to admit, what with the outsider in the cockpit and his distraction with the autopilot, I dont find it all that surprising that he didnt notice. First Officer: Yeah, its gone off. (#3 might have been intended to saunter vaguely in that direction; possibly the writer was also steering clear of anything suggesting that the airline was at fault.). This information is essential to the pilot in his decision to land or initiate a go-around maneuver., (Long term readers will know that I had a bad habit of talking about minimum decision altitude when I meant minimum descent altitude, so Im kinda pleased to see that Im not the only one). First Officer: Southern nine thirty two, were over the marker now, proceeding outbound. It seemed hopeful that they would, as well, allowing Southern 932 to continue the approach and land. [25], The events of the crash are documented in an episode of Aircrash Confidential titled "Disastrous Descents".[27]. But in very hilly or uneven terrain, like the area of West Virginia where the plane crashed, radio altimeters could give inaccurate readings. In 1970, the first officer was clearly in a position of being subservient to the captain. WebWelcome to the Southern Flight 932 Memorial Website! He made at least four call outs that are definitively height or altitude. The runway was at 828 feet. history". First Officer: Yeah, it ought to. WebBargain Flights to Ashburn. Both had rest periods (20 and 18 hours respectively) before reporting for duty. The reports main argument against this explanation is that a qualified pilot would not make this mistake, knowing they were flying over uneven terrain. Thats a failure of nerve, imagination, or knowledge by the report writer nerve from worries about how the pilots union would attack any suggestion of pilot error (and the airlines would attack any suggestion their policies&procedures were weak), knowledge because even 50 years ago there was some understanding of how loosey-goosey (or downright strange) some pilots were, or imagination because mistakes are always possible and much more possible when there are documented interferences (the coordinator butting in repeatedly) and failures of attention (the lack of such formal procedures as were standard even 50 years ago). The call of hundred! shortly before impact could either be the the height above the ground and the aircrafts airspeed at that moment. In the transcript of their cockpit communications in the final minutes, the pilots briefly debated that their autopilot had "captured" for a glide slope descent, although the airport was only equipped with a localizer. My name is Leslie Deese Garvis. I look at them in more detail in Part 2: An Analysis. Look above the box showing the diagrams: on the right you see MSA, minimum sector altitude. WebSouthern Airways Flight 242 was a DC-9-31 jet, registered N1335U, that executed a forced landing on a highway in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia, United States after suffering hail damage and losing thrust on both engines in a severe thunderstorm on April 4, 1977. Our briefing never took place: He landed badly and ended in hospital. But on this foggy night, they were flying over rapidly changing terrain. The key point to take away here is that the geography around the runway was uneven, with the elevation ranging between 500 feet and 1,000 feet amsl. We went into the holding and the captain gave me a thorough briefing. Because Tri-State airport did not have an ILS, there was no vertical guidance. Its pointing that way Frank. It was the difference between getting there or diverting. 
Charter Coordinator: Bet itll be a missed approach. Following its plane crash, Wichita State was granted similar permission to use freshmen on the varsity to resume its 1970 season. [21] The ceremony featured guest speakers Dawson and Hardin. I do not really like to give an opinion like this, but unless other facts emerge, this seems the only conclusion. What remains obvious: Human resource management and crew coordination were slack, even by the standards of 1970. southern airways flight 932 cvr. Additionally, we offer aircraft for rent such as the Cessna 172 G1000, the Beechcraft 23 Musketeer, the Diamond DA40, the Cirrus SR22 with air conditioning, and the Beechcraft A36 Bonanza. Reading the report, there are some unexpected omissions in how the NTSB handled the investigation. The CVR also recorded a comment from the flight's charter coordinator, a Southern Airways employee who was in the cockpit just before the crash. Height above the ground has zero relevance. The aircraft had been chartered as Southern Airways flight 932 to carry the Marshall University Football team, along with their coaches and fans (known as boosters) back home to Huntington after a football game in Greenville, North Carolina, which they lost. But it was too late. It reacts to the terrain directly below the aircraft, there are airports in the world that are actually on high ground, with much lower terrain in the approach area. When on a non-precision approach, even a cat-1 ILS, the rad-alt is only a bit of extra information. We can joke about it - fortunately - but I admire the pilot. [4] By the time the plane came to a stop, it was 4,219ft (1,286m) short of the runway and 275ft (84m) south of the middle marker. This sounds to me like the captain was asking if they reached the minimum descent altitude, which they had. Another theory was that the pilot and first officer were using their radio altimeters to determine the plane's altitude. First Officer: A thousand feet above the ground, rate and speed good. Jeppesen had a 30 arc second (~1km) grid database back in 2002; the DTED-0 database has that resolution and takes up 2 GB of data. A mass funeral was held at the field house and many of the dead were buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery, some together because bodies were not identifiable. So I took refuge in my bedroom and listened to my radio for an hour or two before falling asleep. Your story confirms what I was pointing at: there seems to have been not only bad real-time CRM but bad (or completely missing) preparation. The disadvantage was that it required an approach controller talking constantly to only one aircraft at the time. [20], On December 11, 2006, a memorial plaque was dedicated at the plane crash site. In 1970, the Tri-State airport had a localiser which offered horizontal guidance to the flight crew. So yes, we did learn the importance of looking at the charts carefully. Featured speakers were Chancellor Steve Ballard, Athletic Director Terry Holland, Pirates' broadcaster Jeff Charles, and Marshall president, Stephen Kopp. Web"On the rainy evening of November 14th, 1970, Southern Airways Flight #932 , a Douglas DC-9 commercial jet, left Kinston, North Carolina, at the scheduled time for the charter flight, consisting of the members of the Marshall University football team, its staff, supporters, and flight crew. However, I want to focus on the first officers monitoring of the approach. I repeat again what was posted on the panel of the aircraft in the fleet of my beloved Tiger Club at Redhill, Surrey, of which I used to be an active member in the seventies: The weather was 300 feet scattered cloud, 500 feet variable broken ceiling, 1,100 feet overcast with a visibility 5 miles in light rain, fog and smoke. These days, its much more common to see a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) but in the 1970s, the VASI system was much more common. So were either looking at an altimeter malfunction, or a bunch of flatland pilots. The reports main argument against this explanation is that a qualified pilot would not make this mistake, knowing they were flying over uneven terrain. Charter Coordinator: Frank, you want full fuel load out of here? The Charter Coordinator still hasnt learned when to shut up. Now, as long as the flight crew were still monitoring their altitude separately and following the non-precision step-downs, that wouldnt matter. An airline uses either system, the crews are trained using either QNH of QFE. 
On April 4, 1977, it executed a forced landing on Georgia State Route 381 in New Hope , Paulding County, Georgia , United States, after suffering hail damage and losing thrust on both engines in a severe thunderstorm . [8], The board made three recommendations as a result of this accident, including recommendations for heads-up displays, ground proximity warning devices, and surveillance and inspection of flight operations. 
WebFlights from Huntsville (HSV) with American Airlines. The Ceredo and Kenova fire departments were recognized at the event. [10], The crash of Flight 932 so devastated the local community that it almost led to the discontinuation of Marshall's football program. It is sloppy and raises the risk of missing an item. The factory of his contact was still a considerable distance away. WebSouthern Airways Flight 932 | Nov. 14th 1970 | Huntington, WV | The aircraft crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 Marshall University football team members Wikipedia. Although there is no glideslope, the frequencies of localizers are the same as those of an ILS. Instead, they flew right into it. southern airways flight 932 cvr parking in fire lane ticket cost / kitty carlisle shankwitz / southern airways flight 932 cvr atlantic league of professional baseball salary I cannot see any evidence of a proper preparation for this approach; if they had, the capture of a false glideslope would not have been the course of confusion. 
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I remember reading an article about this tragedy several years ago. In 1970, it was still very expensive for an airport to install Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) for their runways and non-precision approaches were much more common. ldeesegarvis. Following procedure, they can descend another two hundred feet and then they continue to fly at 400 feet above the ground until they make visual contact with the runway. This student made a video about Southern Airways flight 932 as his National History Day Project on Tragedy and Triumph (which, to be honest, I watched with the sound off). So the altimeter could have gained those 300 feet in the impact. In this scenario, it is much more useful to know your height over mean sea level, rather than know that you are 400 feet over whatever it was you just flew over, without knowing if it was a hill or a valley. WebSouthern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 domestic United States commercial jet flight from Stallings Field (ISO) in Kinston, North Carolina, to Huntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) near Captain: That the approach? Perhaps most striking to me is the fact that it was a unfamiliar airport. It makes me wonder. Chip, SAR or Surveillance Approach Radar has also been used, but did not show the aircraft height of course. On the 14th of November in 1970, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashed on final approach to the Huntington Tri-State airport in West Virginia, killing all 75 on board. This would require the airplane to level off and turn around. The report also noted that the craft approached the Catlettsburg Refinery in the final 30 seconds before impact, which "could haveaffecteda visual illusion produced by the difference in the elevation of the refinery and the airport," which was nearly 300ft (91m) higher than the refinery, with hills in between. This system is completely separate from the captain's and first officer's normal static pressure systems, except that it is available as a backup source for their instruments, if However, since the tops of the trees were more than 300 feet below MDA, leveling off earlier would not likely have prevented the crash. The report describes the conditions that night when the DC-9 was on approach as follows: The terrain under the approach path was irregular with numerous hills of varying heights. The point I am trying to make is: If a crew wants to do something that is legal, but not conform to normal standard practise, at least they should have discussed it before initiating the approach. It was unveiled to thousands 90 minutes before the game with the Miami University RedHawks. So it isnt surprising that they werent all that worried about the chart. [12] Lengyel was named to take Tolley's place on March 12, 1971, after Dick Bestwick, the first choice for the job, backed out after just one week and returned to Georgia Tech. The larger folded airway charts still would arrive by mail. If the captain still didnt respond, which can happen when someone is fixated, and the situation did not improve, then the first officer would be expected announce that he was taking control of the aircraft and to put full power on and climb away. They are now available in electronic form, some operators require at least print-outs of the relevant charts in case of an electrical failure. Similarly, the use of out-of-date charts, laughed off by the crew as normal, wasnt followed up on in the recommendations, other than a vague statement that the FAA should keep a closer eye on airlines. He didnt have the power to insist on an action or take control of the aircraft. Jeppesen is meticulous and extremely complete. Theres also the point that neither the crew nor the charter coordinator thought it was a big deal that the approach plate was out of date. The team originally planned to cancel the flight, but changed plans and chartered the Southern Airways DC-9. A second possibility is that he was not using his barometric or radio altimeter, but rather was relying solely on the first officer for altitude information. This may still be the case, I dont know. I learned a few new acronyms in this post, which made it all the more interesting. That said, I have to admit, what with the outsider in the cockpit and his distraction with the autopilot, I dont find it all that surprising that he didnt notice. First Officer: Yeah, its gone off. (#3 might have been intended to saunter vaguely in that direction; possibly the writer was also steering clear of anything suggesting that the airline was at fault.). This information is essential to the pilot in his decision to land or initiate a go-around maneuver., (Long term readers will know that I had a bad habit of talking about minimum decision altitude when I meant minimum descent altitude, so Im kinda pleased to see that Im not the only one). First Officer: Southern nine thirty two, were over the marker now, proceeding outbound. It seemed hopeful that they would, as well, allowing Southern 932 to continue the approach and land. [25], The events of the crash are documented in an episode of Aircrash Confidential titled "Disastrous Descents".[27]. But in very hilly or uneven terrain, like the area of West Virginia where the plane crashed, radio altimeters could give inaccurate readings. In 1970, the first officer was clearly in a position of being subservient to the captain. WebWelcome to the Southern Flight 932 Memorial Website! He made at least four call outs that are definitively height or altitude. The runway was at 828 feet. history". First Officer: Yeah, it ought to. WebBargain Flights to Ashburn. Both had rest periods (20 and 18 hours respectively) before reporting for duty. The reports main argument against this explanation is that a qualified pilot would not make this mistake, knowing they were flying over uneven terrain. Thats a failure of nerve, imagination, or knowledge by the report writer nerve from worries about how the pilots union would attack any suggestion of pilot error (and the airlines would attack any suggestion their policies&procedures were weak), knowledge because even 50 years ago there was some understanding of how loosey-goosey (or downright strange) some pilots were, or imagination because mistakes are always possible and much more possible when there are documented interferences (the coordinator butting in repeatedly) and failures of attention (the lack of such formal procedures as were standard even 50 years ago). The call of hundred! shortly before impact could either be the the height above the ground and the aircrafts airspeed at that moment. In the transcript of their cockpit communications in the final minutes, the pilots briefly debated that their autopilot had "captured" for a glide slope descent, although the airport was only equipped with a localizer. My name is Leslie Deese Garvis. I look at them in more detail in Part 2: An Analysis. Look above the box showing the diagrams: on the right you see MSA, minimum sector altitude. WebSouthern Airways Flight 242 was a DC-9-31 jet, registered N1335U, that executed a forced landing on a highway in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia, United States after suffering hail damage and losing thrust on both engines in a severe thunderstorm on April 4, 1977. Our briefing never took place: He landed badly and ended in hospital. But on this foggy night, they were flying over rapidly changing terrain. The key point to take away here is that the geography around the runway was uneven, with the elevation ranging between 500 feet and 1,000 feet amsl. We went into the holding and the captain gave me a thorough briefing. Because Tri-State airport did not have an ILS, there was no vertical guidance. Its pointing that way Frank. It was the difference between getting there or diverting. Charter Coordinator: Bet itll be a missed approach. Following its plane crash, Wichita State was granted similar permission to use freshmen on the varsity to resume its 1970 season. [21] The ceremony featured guest speakers Dawson and Hardin. I do not really like to give an opinion like this, but unless other facts emerge, this seems the only conclusion. What remains obvious: Human resource management and crew coordination were slack, even by the standards of 1970. southern airways flight 932 cvr. Additionally, we offer aircraft for rent such as the Cessna 172 G1000, the Beechcraft 23 Musketeer, the Diamond DA40, the Cirrus SR22 with air conditioning, and the Beechcraft A36 Bonanza. Reading the report, there are some unexpected omissions in how the NTSB handled the investigation. The CVR also recorded a comment from the flight's charter coordinator, a Southern Airways employee who was in the cockpit just before the crash. Height above the ground has zero relevance. The aircraft had been chartered as Southern Airways flight 932 to carry the Marshall University Football team, along with their coaches and fans (known as boosters) back home to Huntington after a football game in Greenville, North Carolina, which they lost. But it was too late. It reacts to the terrain directly below the aircraft, there are airports in the world that are actually on high ground, with much lower terrain in the approach area. When on a non-precision approach, even a cat-1 ILS, the rad-alt is only a bit of extra information. We can joke about it - fortunately - but I admire the pilot. [4] By the time the plane came to a stop, it was 4,219ft (1,286m) short of the runway and 275ft (84m) south of the middle marker. This sounds to me like the captain was asking if they reached the minimum descent altitude, which they had. Another theory was that the pilot and first officer were using their radio altimeters to determine the plane's altitude. First Officer: A thousand feet above the ground, rate and speed good. Jeppesen had a 30 arc second (~1km) grid database back in 2002; the DTED-0 database has that resolution and takes up 2 GB of data. A mass funeral was held at the field house and many of the dead were buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery, some together because bodies were not identifiable. So I took refuge in my bedroom and listened to my radio for an hour or two before falling asleep. Your story confirms what I was pointing at: there seems to have been not only bad real-time CRM but bad (or completely missing) preparation. The disadvantage was that it required an approach controller talking constantly to only one aircraft at the time. [20], On December 11, 2006, a memorial plaque was dedicated at the plane crash site. In 1970, the Tri-State airport had a localiser which offered horizontal guidance to the flight crew. So yes, we did learn the importance of looking at the charts carefully. Featured speakers were Chancellor Steve Ballard, Athletic Director Terry Holland, Pirates' broadcaster Jeff Charles, and Marshall president, Stephen Kopp. Web"On the rainy evening of November 14th, 1970, Southern Airways Flight #932 , a Douglas DC-9 commercial jet, left Kinston, North Carolina, at the scheduled time for the charter flight, consisting of the members of the Marshall University football team, its staff, supporters, and flight crew. However, I want to focus on the first officers monitoring of the approach. I repeat again what was posted on the panel of the aircraft in the fleet of my beloved Tiger Club at Redhill, Surrey, of which I used to be an active member in the seventies: The weather was 300 feet scattered cloud, 500 feet variable broken ceiling, 1,100 feet overcast with a visibility 5 miles in light rain, fog and smoke. These days, its much more common to see a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) but in the 1970s, the VASI system was much more common. So were either looking at an altimeter malfunction, or a bunch of flatland pilots. The reports main argument against this explanation is that a qualified pilot would not make this mistake, knowing they were flying over uneven terrain. Charter Coordinator: Frank, you want full fuel load out of here? The Charter Coordinator still hasnt learned when to shut up. Now, as long as the flight crew were still monitoring their altitude separately and following the non-precision step-downs, that wouldnt matter. An airline uses either system, the crews are trained using either QNH of QFE. On April 4, 1977, it executed a forced landing on Georgia State Route 381 in New Hope , Paulding County, Georgia , United States, after suffering hail damage and losing thrust on both engines in a severe thunderstorm . [8], The board made three recommendations as a result of this accident, including recommendations for heads-up displays, ground proximity warning devices, and surveillance and inspection of flight operations. WebFlights from Huntsville (HSV) with American Airlines. The Ceredo and Kenova fire departments were recognized at the event. [10], The crash of Flight 932 so devastated the local community that it almost led to the discontinuation of Marshall's football program. It is sloppy and raises the risk of missing an item. The factory of his contact was still a considerable distance away. WebSouthern Airways Flight 932 | Nov. 14th 1970 | Huntington, WV | The aircraft crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 Marshall University football team members Wikipedia. Although there is no glideslope, the frequencies of localizers are the same as those of an ILS. 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