Eastern Air Lines Flight 212

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Eastern Air Lines Flight 212
Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crash photo.jpg
Wreckage of N8984E at the accident site
Accident
DateSeptember 11, 1974 (1974-09-11)
Summary Controlled flight into terrain
SiteNear Douglas Municipal Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
35°09′14″N80°55′34″W / 35.15389°N 80.92611°W / 35.15389; -80.92611
Aircraft
Aircraft type McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31
Operator Eastern Air Lines
IATA flight No.EA212
ICAO flight No.EAL212
Call signEASTERN 212
Registration N8984E [1]
Flight origin Charleston Municipal Airport, Charleston, South Carolina
Stopover Douglas Municipal Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina
Destination Chicago O'Hare, Chicago, Illinois
Occupants82
Passengers78
Crew4
Fatalities72
Injuries9
Survivors10

Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 was a controlled flight into terrain accident of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 during approach to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. The accident occurred on September 11, 1974, killing 72 of the 82 people on board. The scheduled flight was from Charleston Municipal Airport to Chicago O'Hare, with an intermediate stop in Charlotte.

Contents

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that multiple crew errors were the primary cause of the crash.

Accident

On the morning of September 11, 1974, while conducting an instrument approach in dense ground fog into Douglas Municipal Airport in Charlotte, the aircraft crashed at 7:34 am EDT more than three miles (5 km) short of Runway 36, killing 72 of the 82 on board. [2] Thirteen survived the initial impact, including the first officer and one flight attendant, [3] but three of the initial survivors ultimately died from severe burn injuries [4] as late as 29 days after the accident. [5] Among the fatalities was the vice president for academic affairs of the Medical University of South Carolina, James William Colbert Jr., [6] and two of his sons; they were the father and brothers of future television personality Stephen Colbert. [7] [8]

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft was a five-year-old McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 registered as N8984E, which was delivered to Eastern Airlines on January 30, 1969. [5] : 25  The captain was 49-year-old James E. Reeves, who had been with the airline since 1956. He had 8,876 flight hours, including 3,856 hours on the DC-9. [5] : 24  The first officer was 36-year-old James M. Daniels Jr. He had been with the airline since 1966 and had 3,016 flight hours, including 2,693 hours on the DC-9. [5] : 24 

Crash investigation and recommendations

N8983E, the aircraft similar to the one involved N8983E DC-9-31 Eastern Air Lines JFK 09JUL70 (5593233530).jpg
N8983E, the aircraft similar to the one involved

While investigating this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reviewed the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and found that the flight crew had engaged in unnecessary and "nonpertinent" conversation during the approach phase of the flight, discussing subjects "ranging from politics to used cars." [5] The NTSB concluded that conducting such nonessential chatter can distract pilots from their flying duties during the critical phases of flight, such as instrument approach to landing, and recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) establish rules and educate pilots to focus exclusively on flying tasks while operating at low altitudes. It was later realized that this rule should also apply to takeoffs; for example, the lack of a sterile cockpit environment was a contributing factor to the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 on January 13, 1982. The FAA, after more than six years of consideration, finally published the sterile cockpit rule in 1981. [9] [10]

The NTSB also found that the crew was apparently trying to visually locate the airport while executing an instrument approach in the presence of low-lying fog. In addition, a persistent attempt to visually identify the nearby Carowinds amusement park tower, known as "Carowinds Tower" to pilots, [11] which rose to an elevation of 1,314 feet (401 m), or 340 feet (105 m) above ground level (AGL), may have further distracted and confused the flight crew. The first officer was operating the flight controls, and none of the required altitude callouts were made by the captain, which compounded the flight crew's nearly total lack of altitude awareness.

During the investigation, the issue of the flammability of passengers' clothing materials was raised. There was evidence that passengers who wore double-knit synthetic fiber clothing articles sustained significantly worse burn injuries during the post-crash fire than passengers who wore articles made from natural fibers. [5]

The NTSB released its final report on May 23, 1975, [5] concluding that the accident was caused by the flight crew's lack of altitude awareness and poor cockpit discipline. [12] The NTSB issued the following official probable cause: [12]

"The flight crew's lack of altitude awareness at critical points during the approach due to poor cockpit discipline in that the crew did not follow prescribed procedure".

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "FAA Registry (N8984E)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  2. ↑ "Airliner crashes with 78 aboard". The Free Lance–Star. (Fredericksburg, Virginia). Associated Press. September 11, 1974. p. 3. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  3. ↑ "69 killed, 13 survive as Eastern jetliner crashes at Charlotte". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. September 12, 1974. p. 1. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  4. ↑ "FIERY CHARLOTTE JET CRASH KILLS SIXTY NINE PERSONS". Florence Morning News. September 12, 1974. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2008– via GenDisasters.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Aircraft Accident Report - Eastern Air Lines, Inc., Douglas DC-9-31, N8984E, Charlotte, North Carolina, September 11, 1974" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. May 23, 1975. NTSB-AAR-75-09. Retrieved March 17, 2009. - Copy at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University.
  6. ↑ Schorn, Daniel (April 28, 2006). "Stephen Colbert On Insincerity". CBS News. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
  7. ↑ Lovell, Joel (August 17, 2015). "Stephen Colbert on Making The Late Show His Own". GQ. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Jon Batiste & Stephen Colbert Reflect On The Loss Of Kobe Bryant". The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. January 29, 2020. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2020– via YouTube.
  9. ↑ Sumwalt, Robert L. (June 4, 1993). "The Sterile Cockpit". NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System Directline, #4. Archived from the original on April 10, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  10. ↑ Baron, Robert (2005). "The Cockpit, the Cabin, and Social Psychology". Airlinesafety.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  11. ↑ "Carolina Skytower". Theme Park Insider. Archived from the original on November 28, 2006. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  12. 1 2 Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
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