Alaska Airlines Flight 1866
Seattle, Washington | |
Occupants | 111 |
---|---|
Passengers | 104 |
Crew | 7 |
Fatalities | 111 |
Survivors | 0 |
Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight operated by
Flight crew
The captain of the flight was Richard C. Adams, age 41. Adams had 13,870 flight hours, including 2,688 hours on the Boeing 727. Piloting the aircraft at the time of the accident was First Officer Leonard D. Beach, age 32. Beach had 5,000 flight hours, with 2,100 of them on the Boeing 727.[5]: 46 James J. Carson, age 30, was the Second Officer and had 2,850 flight hours, including about 2,600 hours on the Boeing 727.[5]: 46 Beach and Carson were both hired by Alaska Airlines in 1966, and Adams had been with the airline since 1955.[5]: 46 The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later determined that all three flight crew members were current and qualified to operate the flight, and there was no evidence of any conditions which would have adversely affected the performance of their duties.
Aircraft
The aircraft was a
Accident flight
On September 4, 1971, Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 (Air Traffic Control call sign "Alaska 66") was scheduled to depart
At 11:46 the crew contacted Anchorage air traffic control and reported they were at Flight Level 230 (FL230 or 23,000 feet [7,010 m]), 65 miles (56 nmi; 105 km) east of Yakutat. The controller issued a clearance to descend at pilots' discretion to cross the PLEASANT intersection at 10,000 feet (3,048 m), and gave them a clearance limit of HOWARD intersection. The controller then gave them the current altimeter setting at JNU and requested they report passing 11,000 feet in the descent.
At 11:51 the crew informed the controller they were leaving FL230 descending to be level at 10,000 feet at PLEASANT intersection.[5]: 3
At 11:54 the controller instructed the crew to stop their descent at 12,000 feet and changed the clearance limit to PLEASANT intersection where they could expect to hold. They reported level at 12,000 feet (3,658 m) less than a minute later. The controller explained that he had to change the clearance due to another aircraft in the airspace near JNU. A
At 11:58 the flight reported passing PLEASANT and entering the
At 12:00, the controller repeated the new clearance limit to hold at HOWARD, and told them they could expect to hold there until 12:10. At 12:01 the crew reported entering the holding pattern at HOWARD at 12,000 feet.
At 12:07, the controller asked for their current location in the holding pattern, and direction from HOWARD. The crew reported they were turning on the inbound leg of the hold, joining the
At 12:08, the Anchorage controller asked them to report their current altitude and the crew responded, "...leaving five thousand five... four thousand five hundred." The crew was then instructed to contact Juneau
At approximately 12:15 the aircraft struck the eastern slope of a canyon in the Chilkat Range of the Tongass National Forest at the 2,500-foot (760 m) level, 18.5 miles (16 nmi; 30 km) west of Juneau. The aircraft exploded on impact. According to the CVR and FDR, there was not even "a last-second awareness" among the crew that a collision with terrain was imminent.
When the crew stopped responding, JNU tower notified local authorities in Juneau, who immediately began a search for the aircraft. A few hours later, the wreckage was located on the eastern slope of the Chilkat ridge, west of Juneau airport at the coordinates 58°21′42″N 135°10′12″W / 58.36167°N 135.17000°W. There were no survivors.[5]: 4–5 [7]
Two witnesses in the area of the Chilkat Mountains stated that they heard a low-flying jet aircraft, but could not see it because of clouds and low visibility, which they estimated at 200–300 feet (61–91 m). They described the sound of the engines as normal. A short time later they heard an explosion. A third witness in the area saw a low flying plane disappear into the clouds, but did not report hearing any sound.
Investigation
The U.S. NTSB investigated the accident. The
The NTSB Final Report was released on October 11, 1972. The investigation found that the following factors contributed to the accident:[5]: 41
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was a display of misleading navigational information concerning the flight's progress along the localizer course which resulted in a premature descent below obstacle clearance altitude. The origin or nature of the misleading navigational information could not be determined. The Board further concludes that the crew did not use all available navigational aids to check the flight's progress along the localizer nor were these aids required to be used. The crew also did not perform the required audio identification of the pertinent navigational facilities.
— NTSB final report
Notes
The NTSB investigation examined the idea that some sort of military radio jamming technology could have contributed to the apparent false indications of the navigational radios before the accident. The report found no evidence that such interference had taken place and it was discounted as a possible cause. Interestingly, this type of problem is used as a plot device in famed aviation writer Ernest K. Gann's 1973 novel Band of Brothers.[8] In the book, a Boeing 727 crashes after receiving false navigational information as a result of military radio jamming.
See also
- American Airlines Flight 965
- Crossair Flight 3597
- Thai Airways International Flight 311
- Santa Barbara Airlines Flight 518
- Trigana Air Flight 267
- Prinair Flight 277
References
- ^ a b "NTSB Identification: DCA72AZ003". www.ntsb.gov. National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- ^ "Alaska Airlines - HistoryLink.org". Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- ^ Aviation Safety Network
- ^ Brooks, James (September 3, 2016). "The disaster that taught us to fly safely: 45 years after Flight 1866". Juneau Empire.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Aircraft Accident Report - Alaska Airlines, Inc., B-727, N2969G, near Juneau, Alaska, September 4, 1971" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. October 13, 1972. NTSB-AAR-72-28. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
- ^ "Pacific Air Lines Boeing 727-169 N2969G (c/n 19304)". Retrieved October 9, 2014.
- ^ "Advanced Search Result". B3A Aircraft Accidents Archives. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-345-25849-6.