Event Details


Title:Takeoff stall in icing conditions, USAir Flight 405, Fokker F-28, N485US, LaGuardia Airport, Flushing, New York, March 22, 1992
Micro summary:This Fokker F-28 stalled and crashed on takeoff.
Event Time:1992-03-22 at 2135 EST
File Name:1992-03-22-US.pdf
Publishing Agency:National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Publishing Country:USA
Report number:NTSB-AAR-93-02
Pages:131
Site of event:LaGuardia runway 13
Latitude/Longitude:N40°46'23" W73°51'29"
Departure:LaGuardia International Airport, New York, New York, USA
Destination:Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Airplane Type(s):Fokker F-28-4000
Flight Phase:Takeoff
Registration(s):N485US
Operator(s):USAir
Type of flight:Revenue
Occupants:51
Fatalities:27
Serious Injuries:21
Minor/Non-Injured:3
Other Injuries:0
Executive Summary:On Sunday, March 22, 1992, about 2135 eastern standard time, a Fokker 28-4000 (F-28), N485US, operating as USAir flight 405, crashed during an attempted takeoff from runway 13 at LaGuardia Airport, Hushing, New York. Flight 405 was operating under Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 121, as a scheduled passenger flight from Jacksonville, Florida, to Cleveland, Ohio, with a stopover at LaGuardia Airport. There were 47 passengers, 2 flightcrew members and 2 cabincrew members on board. The captain, one of the cabincrew members, and 25 passengers received fatal injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and subsequent fire.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable causes of this accident were the failure of the airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration to provide flightcrews with procedures, requirements, and criteria compatible with departure delays in conditions conducive to airframe icing and the decision by the flightcrew to take off without positive assurance that the airplane's wings were free of ice accumulation after 35 minutes of exposure to precipitation following deicing. The ice contamination on the wings resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of control after liftoff. Contributing to the cause of the accident were the inappropriate procedures used by, and inadequate coordination between, the flightcrew that led to a takeoff rotation at a lower than prescribed air speed.

The safety issues in this report focused on the weather affecting the flight, USAir's deicing procedures, industry airframe deicing practices, air traffic control aspects affecting the flight, USAir's takeoff and preflight procedures, and flightcrew qualifications and training. The dynamics of the airplane's impact with the ground, postaccident survivability, and crash/fire/rescue activities were also analyzed.

Safety recommendations concerning these issues were addressed to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Department of Transportation, and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.
Learning Keywords:Operations - Airspace - Air Traffic Control
Operations - Checklists/Procedures
Operations - Icing
Operations - Training Deficiency
Operations - Uncontrolled Flight into Terrain
Operations - Upset in-flight (extreme attitudes, stall, spin)
Other - Airport Management
Other - Post-Crash Survivability
Consequence - Hull Loss

 




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