Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808
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Boston, Massachusetts | |
1st stopover | Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport, Auburn, Maine |
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2nd stopover | Waterville Robert LaFleur Airport, Waterville, Maine |
3rd stopover | Augusta State Airport, Augusta, Maine |
Destination | Bangor International Airport, Bangor, Maine |
Passengers | 6 |
Crew | 2 |
Fatalities | 8 |
Survivors | 0 |
Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 was a scheduled flight from Logan International Airport to Bangor International Airport in the United States on August 25, 1985. On final approach to Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport, the Bar Harbor Airlines Beechcraft Model 99 crashed short of the runway, killing all six passengers and two crew on board. Among the passengers was Samantha Smith, a 13-year-old American schoolgirl who had become famous as a goodwill ambassador to the Soviet Union[2] and had been cast on the television show Lime Street.[3]
Flight history
Flight 1808 was scheduled to stop in
Flight 1808 boarded in Boston with six passengers: two for Auburn, three for Augusta and one for Waterville. A fourth passenger had checked in for Augusta but did not respond to boarding calls and missed the flight. At 21:17
At about 22:00, Flight 1808 radioed the station agent at Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport for the latest weather. The agent reported a 300 foot (90 m) obscured, indefinite ceiling with visibility of 1 mile (1,600 m) in light drizzle and winds of 020° (north-northeast) at 4 knots (7 km/h). The altimeter setting was supposed to be 30.24 inches of mercury (1,024 hPa). Shortly after this call, a controller in Portland contacted Flight 1808 to advise that they were drifting east of the ILS approach course to Runway 4 at Auburn. He advised them to turn to heading 340 to intercept. The captain responded "OK.” Almost a minute later, the controller advised Flight 1808 that they were passing the Lewie NDB beacon at the outer marker for the approach and asked if they were receiving the signal. The first officer responded "affirmative." The controller then cleared Flight 1808 to switch to the Auburn airport's frequency. This transmission was acknowledged by Flight 1808’s first officer and was the last transmission received from the crew. Portland controllers were notified less than 10 minutes later that the plane had crashed at 22:05.
Passengers
Two of the three passengers headed for Augusta were Samantha Smith and her father,[4] who were returning from London, England.[5] Three years earlier, she had written to Soviet General Secretary Yuri Andropov regarding her desire for peace between the United States and the Soviet Union.[6] Andropov replied with an invitation for the Smiths to tour the Soviet Union.[7] In 1985, ABC hired her as an actress on its new television show Lime Street, which was filmed on location in London.[3] She and her father were headed home during a break from shooting.
Investigation
Accident investigators were hindered by the absence of information from either a
Examination of radar data from Portland showed that after Flight 1808 turned to heading 340 to intercept the approach, it flew through the approach course and had to make a 60° turn less than one mile (1.6 km) from the outer marker to return to its course. Altitude data from the aircraft’s transponder showed that Flight 1808 did not begin its descent to intercept the precision approach until after passing Lewiston, when the plane was already above the glide slope for the approach. This may have caused the flight crew to rush both the descent and the approach and descend too steeply. The actual altimeter settings on both the captain's and the first officer's altimeters could not be determined because of fire and impact damage. The aircraft flew into trees less than 1 mile (1.6 km) from the end of Runway 4 and struck the ground less than 500 feet (150 m) to the right of the extended runway center line. There were no survivors.
In its report, the
The NTSB recommended a review of controller procedures for outlying airports without ground radar to align with best practices. For example, the 60° turn less than 1 mile (1.6 km) from the outer marker for the approach at Auburn was directed by the Portland controller even though that maneuver would have violated approach guidelines for radar-assisted arrivals at Portland International Jetport. The NTSB further recommended that aircraft for hire that were capable of carrying six or more passengers be equipped with flight recorders.
Aftermath
Jane Smith, Samantha's mother, filed a $50 million
References
- ^ "FAA Registry (N300WP)". Federal Aviation Administration.
- UPI (August 26, 1985). "8 Killed in Maine Plane Crash". The New York Times. p. 11. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
- ^ a b "Andropov's Pal Samantha Smith Dies in Plane Crash". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. August 26, 1985. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-3295-0. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
- ^ "Child peace envoy dies". news in brief. The Daily Tar Heel. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. August 28, 1985. p. 2. Retrieved June 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Folkart, Burt A. (August 27, 1985). "Samantha Smith, 13, Author of Letter to Soviet Leader, Killed in Airplane Crash". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
- ^ Wald, Matthew L. (August 27, 1985). "Air Crash Kills Girl Who Sent Andropov Letter About Peace". The New York Times. Vol. 134, no. 46514.
- ^ "Plane crash probe continues". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Santa Cruz, California. Associated Press. November 22, 1985. p. A-4, Col. 3. Retrieved June 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Accord in Death of Girl Who Made Peace Trip". The New York Times. Vol. 138, no. 47754. Associated Press. January 18, 1989. p. A13.
Further reading
- Aircraft Accident Report AAR-86-6 (PDF) National Transportation Safety Board, Copy at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
- Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- "Board blames pilot errors in commuter airline crashes". Washington Post. October 2, 1986. Archived from the originalon May 22, 2011.