Midwest Express Airlines Flight 007

Midwest Express Airlines Flight 007

N207ME the aircraft involved in March 2001, Less than 6 months before the incident
Accident
Date	September 11, 2001
Summary	Near miss with United Airlines Flight 175
Site	Near General Mitchell International Airport, Oak Creek, Wisconsin, United States 42°55′41.1″N87°54′03.9″W / 42.928083°N 87.901083°W / 42.928083; -87.901083
Aircraft
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
Operator	Midwest Express Airlines
IATA flight No.	YX007
ICAO flight No.	MEP007
Call sign	MIDEX 007
Registration	N207ME [1]
Flight origin	General Mitchell International Airport, Oak Creek, Wisconsin, United States
Destination	LaGuardia Airport, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York, United States
Occupants	35
Passengers	30
Crew	5
Fatalities	0
Survivors	35

Midwest Express Airlines Flight 007 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight that was involved in a near Mid-Air collision on September 11, 2001, leading to a series of rapid descents and four minor injuries. The flight passed within 300-30 feet of United Airlines Flight 175.

Had the pair of aircraft collided it could have been the fourth worst mid-air collision in American history, behind the 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision, the 1960 New York mid-air collision and Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182.

Aircraft

On September 11, 2001, Midwest Express (Midex) 007 was operated by a 22 year old McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, registered N207ME. The DC-9 was manufactured in 1979 for Garuda Indonesia and bought by Midwest in 1995.

Crew

The flight was operated by Captain Gerald Earwood and first officer Eric Fjelstad (who had joined Midwest less than a year prior). Earwood was well known at Midwest for his tendency to "joke" with his fellow crew members, also on board were three cabin crew/flight attendants.

Flight

Around 6am the flight departed Milwaukee with a scheduled arrival time of around 9am local time, the flight was uneventful for the first hour and a half.

Radio issues

While the aircraft was on NYC radar, several calls to air traffic control (ATC) were missed. This led to the crew believing they might have had an unserviceable VHF communications radio. The missed calls occurred at the same time as American Airlines Flight 11 crashed. ^[2]

Near miss

As the aircraft was nearing the Hudson river, United Airlines 175 was also approaching at the same attitude. ATC was focused on vectoring both a Delta and a TWA flight; Midwest 007 was left to fly as previously instructed. The controller was alerted to a conflict between two aircraft and directed Midwest 007 to turn left; the crew complied with this instruction. The controller, on seeing that United 175 was less than a mile from collision told the Midwest crew to "Roll Right". At this time the First officer could see the United aircraft and sent the DC-9 into a right hand dive. ^[3] The aircraft quickly lost altitude and they had to pull up after around 1000 feet. United 175, now on its final descent, was still on a collision course with the DC-9. Once again the crew were forced to dive. This time four people (two passengers and two cabin crew) were injured. The aircraft dropped around 2000 feet in a second right-handed dive, allowing Flight 175 to pass around 300-30 feet above. ^[4]

Aftermath

The DC-9 landed safely with no further issues. N207ME received temporary repairs in NYC before flying a group of Midwest Express crew members back to Milwaukee on September 13, where it was fully repaired. The aircraft is currently stored in Mexico along with the Boeing 747SP that operated China Airlines Flight 006. Both pilots continued to fly for Midwest Express until 2010, when the airline ceased operations.

In popular culture

The book Touching History by Lynn Spencer includes the flight along with a number of others.

1. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/545358
2. https://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1450141/changing_terrors_course_book_details_how_midwest_plane_avoided_sept/
3. https://news.utdallas.edu/campus-community/navigating-chaos-aviation-pros-recall-events-of-91/
4. https://news.utdallas.edu/campus-community/navigating-chaos-aviation-pros-recall-events-of-91/