Ozark Air Lines Flight 809
St. Louis, Missouri , United States | |
| Passengers | 41 |
|---|---|
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 38 |
| Injuries | 6 |
| Survivors | 6 |
Ozark Air Lines Flight 809 was a regularly scheduled flight from
Synopsis
On July 23, 1973, Ozark Air Lines Flight 809 was operated by one of the company's
While the weather was clear at the flight's stops, several persons who boarded family or friends on the flight at Marion reported that the sky "didn't look good".[2] The flight departed Marion at 1705 en route to St. Louis.
At 1726 the flight arrived in the vicinity of St. Louis.[1] Visibility in the area was reported as hazy. The flight continued on and soon after reported an inoperative fuel pump to company maintenance.
At 1732 the flight entered an area of
Investigation
The flight had crashed directly in the approach path to St. Louis International Airport. It had descended below the glide slope, crashing short of the runway. Witnesses in the area saw the flight "suddenly ascend to 400 or 500 feet" (between 122 and 152 m) "and then rapidly descend to 200 feet" (61 m), following which it was struck by lightning.[1] The aircraft was reported to have performed several "evasive maneuvers" before crashing into the trees. All witnesses reported heavy rain at the time of the accident.
A Trans World Airlines flight landing just before Flight 809 reported getting caught in a strong updraft and being forced to execute a missed approach rather than a landing.[1]
The captain and first officer both survived the accident. While the first officer could not remember anything about the incident, the captain did report seeing hail hitting the airplane, pulling the control stick, and seeing fire after impact.[1]
The aircraft was broken in several pieces after impact; the cockpit area was clear of the main wreckage. Four passengers were thrown clear at impact; all survived. The remainder of the fuselage was broken open; all in this area were killed upon impact.[2]
No mechanical defects other than the inoperative fuel pump were reported. The aircraft was found to be in a high nose-up attitude at impact.
The approach controller vectored Flight 809 into Runway 30L at St. Louis. Although the flight crew knew thunderstorms were in the vicinity of the airport, the controller's lack of urgency seemed to lead the flight crew to believe they could land ahead of the storms.[1]
In coming through the storm, the high winds in the storm cell led investigators to believe that a strong downdraft pushed the plane below the glide slope. The crew's evasive actions were not sufficient to prevent the plane from striking the ground.
The investigators' main questions were why the controller had not indicated the severity of the storm to the flight and why, once the flight knew of the storms, they had not requested a different path to the airport to avoid the storm.[1]
Cause
The
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Aircraft Accident Report: Ozark Air Lines, Inc., Fairchild Hiller FH-227B, N4215, Near the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, St. Louis, Missouri, July 23, 1973" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. 1974-04-24. Retrieved 2023-07-19. - Copy at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University.
- ^ a b "Kathy Sweeney Investigates: The Crash of Ozark Airlines - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff". Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ a b "NO WARNING OF CRASH EVIDENT". Daily Capital News. Associated Press. 1973-07-25. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2017 – via Gendisasters.