Event Details


Title:Crash short of runway in microburst, Delta Air Lines, Inc., Lockheed L-1011-385-1, N726DA, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, August 2, 1985
Micro summary:This Lockheed L-1011-385-1 crashed short of the runway when it encountered a microburst on approach.
Event Time:1985-08-02 at 1805:52 CDT
File Name:1985-08-02-US.pdf
Publishing Agency:National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Publishing Country:USA
Report number:NTSB-AAR-86-05
Pages:170
Site of event:6300' north of approach end of RWY 17L
Latitude/Longitude:N32°55' W97°01'
Departure:Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International, Florida, USA
Destination:Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas, Texas, USA
Airplane Type(s):Lockheed L-1011-385-1
Flight Phase:Approach
Registration(s):N726DA
Operator(s):Delta Air Lines
Type of flight:Revenue
Occupants:163
Fatalities:136
Serious Injuries:25
Minor/Non-Injured:2
Other Injuries:0
Executive Summary:On August 2, 1985, at 1805:52 central daylight time, Delta Air Lines flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011-385-1, N726DA, crashed while approaching to land on runway 17L at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas. While passing through the rain shaft beneath a thunderstorm, flight 191 entered a microburst which the pilot was unable to traverse successfully. The airplane struck the ground about 6,300 feet north of the approach end of runway 17L, hit a car on a highway north of the runway killing the driver, struck two water tanks on the airport, and broke apart. Except for a section of the airplane containing the aft fuselage and empennage, the remainder of the airplane disintegrated during the impact sequence, and a severe fire erupted during the impact sequence. Of the 163 persons aboard, 134 passengers and crewmembers were killed; 26 passengers and 3 cabin attendants survived.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable causes of the accident were the flightcrew's decision to initiate and continue the approach into a cumulonimbus cloud which they observed to contain visible lightning; the lack of specific guidelines, procedures, and training for avoiding and escaping from low-altitude windshear; and the lack of definitive, real-time windshear hazard information. This resulted in the aircraft's encounter at low altitude with a microburst-induced, severe windshear from a rapidly developing thunderstorm located on the final approach course.
Learning Keywords:Operations - Controlled Flight Into Terrain
Operations - Windshear or Microburst
Consequence - Hull Loss
Close match:Flight Into Terrain During Missed Approach, USAir Flight 1016, DC-9-31, N954VJ, Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, July 2, 1994
Crash on takeoff in microburst, Pan American World Airways, Inc., Clipper 759, Boeing 727-235, N4737, New Orleans International Airport, Kenner, Louisiana, July 9, 1982
Landed short, Delta Air Lines, Inc., McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, N3323L, Chattanooga Municipal Airport, Chattanooga, Tennessee, November 27, 1973
Crash on takeoff in wind shear, Continental Air Lines, Inc., Boeing 727-224, N88777, Stapleton International Airport, Denver, Colorado, August 7, 1975
Landed short, Pan American World Airways, Inc., Boeing 707-321B, N454PA, Pago Pago, American Samoa, January 30, 1974
Crash on runway in windshear, Allegheny Airlines, Inc., Douglas DC-9, N994VJ, Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1976

 




Accident Reports on DVD, Copyright © 2006 by Flight Simulation Systems, LLC.  All Rights Reserved.
 All referenced trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
www.fss.aero