Corporate Airlines Flight 5966

Last updated

Corporate Airlines Flight 5966
Corporate Airlines 5966 - Photograph of main wreckage area.jpg
Photograph of main wreckage area. The forward section of the airplane is in the foreground, and the tail section is in the background (the aft pressure bulkhead is indicated by the red arrow)
Accident
DateOctober 19, 2004 (2004-10-19)
Summary Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error [1]
Site Adair County, near Kirksville Regional Airport, Kirksville, Missouri, United States
40°03′53″N92°32′35″W / 40.064618°N 92.543186°W / 40.064618; -92.543186
Aircraft
Aircraft type British Aerospace Jetstream 32
Operator Corporate Airlines d/b/a AmericanConnection
ICAO flight No.CEA5966
Call signCORP-X 5966
Registration N875JX [2]
Flight origin St. Louis Lambert International Airport
Destination Kirksville Regional Airport
Occupants15
Passengers13
Crew2
Fatalities13
Injuries2 (serious)
Survivors2

Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 was a scheduled passenger flight from St. Louis, Missouri to Kirksville, Missouri. On October 19, 2004, the Jetstream 32 aircraft operating the flight crashed on approach to Kirksville Regional Airport as a result of pilot error, killing 13 of the 15 people aboard.

Contents

Flight information

A Jetstream 32EP similar to the accident aircraft American Eagle British Aerospace BAe-3201 Jetstream 32EP Silagi-1.jpg
A Jetstream 32EP similar to the accident aircraft

Flight 5966 was a flight route from St. Louis Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri, United States to Kirksville Regional Airport in unincorporated Adair County, Missouri, near the city of Kirksville. Corporate Airlines (later RegionsAir, now defunct) flew the route as part of the AmericanConnection network, an affiliate of American Airlines. [3]

The captain was 48-year-old Kim William Sasse, a former flight instructor who had been with Corporate Airlines since 2001. He had logged 4,234 flight hours, including 2,510 hours on the Jetstream 32. [1] :8–10 [4] The first officer was 29-year-old Jonathan Palmer, also a former flight instructor. Palmer had been hired by Corporate Airlines only three months before the accident and had 2,856 flight hours, only 107 of which were on the Jetstream 32. [1] :10–12 [5]

Accident

On October 19, 2004, the Jetstream 32 twin-engine turboprop flying the route crashed on the approach to Kirksville Airport. The crash killed both pilots and 11 of the 13 passengers aboard. The two surviving passengers were seriously injured. [1] :5,15 [6]

Some of the 13 passengers were doctors from other states who had been due to attend a seminar at the A. T. Still University. These included Steven Z. Miller, who was killed in the crash. Dr. Miller was director of pediatric emergency medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, a prominent figure in the "humanism in medicine" movement. [7] [8]

Investigation

Seating map of Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 produced by the NTSB Corporate5966.JPG
Seating map of Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 produced by the NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the accident was:

[T]he pilots' failure to follow established procedures and properly conduct a non-precision instrument approach at night in instrument meteorological conditions, including their descent below the minimum descent altitude before required visual cues were available (which continued un-moderated until the airplane struck the trees) and their failure to adhere to the established division of duties between the flying and non-flying (monitoring) pilot.

The NTSB analysis of the cockpit voice recorder suggested that both pilots were looking outside the cockpit for visual cues to the location of the airport and failed to realize how low they had descended below the minimum descent altitude. The report further states:

Contributing to the accident were the pilots' failure to make standard callouts and the current Federal Aviation Regulations that allow pilots to descend below the minimum descent altitude into a region in which safe obstacle clearance is not assured based upon seeing only the airport approach lights. The pilots' failure to establish and maintain a professional demeanor during the flight and their fatigue likely contributed to their degraded performance. [1]

The television series Aircrash Confidential featured the incident in the third episode of Season 2, titled Pilot Fatigue. [9]

The crash was also featured in Season 23, Episode 1 of the Canadian documentary series Mayday , titled "Deadly Exchange". [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

Northwest Airlink was the brand name of Northwest Airlines' regional airline service, which flew turboprop and regional jet aircraft from Northwest's domestic hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit, and Memphis. Service was primarily to small-to-medium-sized cities and towns where larger aircraft might not be economical to operate and also to larger markets to either provide additional capacity or more frequent flights than could be justified using mainline aircraft. The Northwest Airlink trade name was replaced by the Delta Connection trade name for Delta Air Lines following the Delta/Northwest merger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirksville Regional Airport</span> Domestic airport serving Kirksville, Missouri, United States

Kirksville Regional Airport is four miles south of Kirksville, Missouri, on the west side of US highway 63. One airline schedules passenger flights, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilot error</span> Decision, action, or inaction by an aircraft pilot

In aviation, pilot error generally refers to an action or decision made by a pilot that is a substantial contributing factor leading to an aviation accident. It also includes a pilot's failure to make a correct decision or take proper action. Errors are intentional actions that fail to achieve their intended outcomes. The Chicago Convention defines the term "accident" as "an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft [...] in which [...] a person is fatally or seriously injured [...] except when the injuries are [...] inflicted by other persons." Hence the definition of "pilot error" does not include deliberate crashing.

RegionsAir was a 14 CFR Part 121 regional airline based out of the Smyrna Airport in Smyrna, Tennessee, USA. The hub airports for RegionsAir were Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (STL) and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohawk Airlines Flight 405</span> 1972 aviation accident in Albany, New York

Mohawk Airlines Flight 405, a Fairchild Hiller FH-227 twin-engine turboprop airliner registered N7818M, was a domestic scheduled passenger flight operated by Mohawk Airlines that crashed into a house within the city limits of Albany, New York, on March 3, 1972, on final approach to Albany County Airport, New York, killing 17 people. The intended destination airport lies in the suburban Town of Colonie, about 4 miles north of the crash site.

Downeast Airlines was a commuter airline based in Rockland, Maine, from 1960 to June 1, 2007, when it was acquired by Maine Atlantic Aviation, an arm of the Jordache Enterprises conglomerate. While the airline was closed, Downeast Air remains a fixed-base operator at its former home airfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean Air Flight 801</span> 1997 passenger plane crash on Guam

Korean Air Flight 801 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Korean Air, from Gimpo International Airport, Seoul to Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, Guam. On August 6, 1997, the Boeing 747-300 operating the flight crashed on Bijia Peak, south of Nimitz Hill, in Asan-Maina, Guam, while on approach to the destination airport, killing 229 of the 254 people aboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Aerospace Jetstream</span> Series of regional airliner and executive transport aircraft

The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the Jetstream 31 from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the British Aerospace Jetstream 41.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Express Flight 6291</span> 1994 plane crash in Ohio, United States

United Express Flight 6291 was a regularly scheduled United Express flight from Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. to Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio. It was a service operated by Atlantic Coast Airlines on behalf of United Express.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Airlink Flight 5719</span> 1993 aviation accident

Northwest Airlink Flight 5719 was a flight from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to International Falls Airport in International Falls, Minnesota with a scheduled intermediate stop at Chisholm-Hibbing Airport in Hibbing, Minnesota. On December 1, 1993, the Jetstream 31, operated by Express Airlines II as Northwest Airlink, collided with a group of trees in a forest during final approach to Hibbing, and crashed into two ridges northwest of the airport, killing all sixteen passengers and the two pilots on board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegheny Airlines Flight 736</span> 1968 aviation accident

Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 was a regularly scheduled flight that crashed while attempting to land at Bradford Regional Airport in Bradford, Pennsylvania, on December 24, 1968. Of the 47 occupants on board, 20 were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UPS Airlines Flight 1354</span> 2013 aviation accident

UPS Airlines Flight 1354 (5X1354/UPS1354) was a scheduled cargo flight from Louisville, Kentucky, to Birmingham, Alabama. On August 14, 2013, the Airbus A300 flying the route crashed and burst into flames short of the runway on approach to Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport. Both pilots were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. They were the only people aboard the aircraft. It was the second fatal air crash for UPS Airlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flagship Airlines Flight 3379</span> Crash of a regional US airliner in 1994

Flagship Airlines Flight 3379 was a scheduled flight under the American Eagle branding from Piedmont Triad International Airport to Raleigh–Durham International Airport during which a British Aerospace Jetstream crashed while executing a missed approach to the Raleigh–Durham International Airport on the evening of Tuesday, December 13, 1994. The two pilots and 13 passengers died in the crash; five passengers survived with serious injuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TransAsia Airways Flight 222</span> 2014 passenger plane crash in Huxi, Penghu, Taiwan

TransAsia Airways Flight 222 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by TransAsia Airways from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to Magong, Penghu Island. On 23 July 2014, the ATR 72-500 twin turboprop operating the route crashed into buildings during approach to land in bad weather at Magong Airport. Among the 58 people on board, only 10 survived.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downeast Airlines Flight 46</span> 1979 aviation accident

Downeast Airlines Flight 46 was a scheduled airline service in the United States from Boston's Logan International Airport to Rockland, Maine operated by Downeast Airlines. On May 30, 1979, the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operating the flight crashed during a nonprecision approach to Rockland's Knox County Regional Airport. All but one of the 18 people on board were killed. The cause of the accident was controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) after the failure of the flight crew to stop the aircraft's descent below the minimum descent altitude for the non-precision approach at Knox County airport. The investigation into the accident looked into the airline's corporate culture as a contributing factor to the crash; this was the first time an investigation took this approach to an air crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilot fatigue</span> Reduced pilot performance from inadequate energy

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines fatigue as "A physiological state of reduced mental or physical performance capability resulting from sleep loss or extended wakefulness, circadian phase, or workload." The phenomenon places great risk on the crew and passengers of an airplane because it significantly increases the chance of pilot error. Fatigue is particularly prevalent among pilots because of "unpredictable work hours, long duty periods, circadian disruption, and insufficient sleep". These factors can occur together to produce a combination of sleep deprivation, circadian rhythm effects, and 'time-on task' fatigue. Regulators attempt to mitigate fatigue by limiting the number of hours pilots are allowed to fly over varying periods of time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2000 East Coast Aviation Services British Aerospace Jetstream crash</span>

On May 21, 2000, a British Aerospace BAe-3101 Jetstream 3101 operated by East Coast Aviation Services crashed into mountainous terrain in Bear Creek Township, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The plane was carrying 17 professional gamblers returning home from Caesar's Palace Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, along with 2 crew members. It was chartered by Caesar's Palace. All 19 passengers and crews on board were killed on impact. This accident, alongside the accident of Aerocaribe Flight 7831 were the accidents with the most fatalities involving the Jetstream 3101 airliner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empire Airlines Flight 8284</span> 2009 aviation accident

Empire Airlines Flight 8284 was a cargo flight operated by Empire Airlines for FedEx Feeder from Fort Worth Alliance Airport to Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, Texas. On January 27, 2009, it crashed on final approach to its destination. Both crew members survived with minor injuries but the aircraft was written off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FedEx Express Flight 1478</span> Boeing 727 hull loss accident

FedEx Express Flight 1478 was a scheduled domestic cargo flight from Memphis International Airport to Tallahassee International Airport. On July 26, 2002, the Boeing 727-232F aircraft flying this route crashed during landing at Tallahassee. All three flight crew members survived the accident with serious injuries, but the aircraft was destroyed.

References

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Transportation Safety Board.

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Collision with Trees and Crash Short of the Runway, Corporate Airlines Flight 5966, BAE Systems BAE-J3201, N875JX, Kirksville, Missouri, October 19, 2004" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. January 24, 2006. NTSB/AAR-06/01. Retrieved January 25, 2006.
  2. "FAA Registry (N875JX)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  3. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident British Aerospace 3201 Jetstream 32EP N875JX Kirksville Regional Airport, MO (IRK)". Aviation Safety Network . Flight Safety Foundation . Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  4. "Kim William Sasse". legacy.com. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  5. Wald, Matthew L. (January 25, 2006). "Voice Recorder Shows Pilots in 2004 Crash Shirked Duties". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  6. "Crash Survivor Relives Escape". CBS News . Associated Press. October 20, 2004. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  7. Bayot, Jennifer (October 23, 2004). "Steven Z. Miller, A Pediatrician, Is Dead at 46". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  8. "Thirteen die in US plane horror". BBC News. October 20, 2004. Retrieved October 20, 2004.
  9. "Aircrash Confidential - Pilot Fatigue". thetvdb.com. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  10. "Program Overview". www.cineflixrights.com. Retrieved August 1, 2022.