Crashing Just 20 Seconds After Takeoff in Louisiana | Slammed to the Ground
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.พ. 2023
- A Boeing 727 operating as Pan Am flight 759 takes off from New Orleans Airport in Louisiana. Just a few seconds later, the aircraft is slammed to the ground. Find out what really happened.
Get early access to future videos and support the channel here:
• / theflightchannel
Check out the Official Shop with merchandise here:
• teespring.com/stores/thefligh...
Follow TheFlightChannel
• Facebook: / theflightchannel
• Instagram: / tfc_aviation
Business Enquiries
• Email: contact.theflightchannel@gmail.com
This video has been recorded and edited in 4K resolution and 60FPS. - เกม
This is one of the best explanations of a microburst I've ever seen.
Yes, I now fully understand it.
Agreed, not the dramatic tv show version, just simple weather science.
I wish I could have understood it better....Almost seemed like it is advised to pitch the nose up more, which doesn't make sense to me. But, I have probably misunderstood what was written. May they all rest in peace, "....by the grace of God go I..."
@@fleetwin1 - Actually that is the guidance, though at the time it wasn’t as strongly worded, in part because wind shear (and microbursts in particular) was not a well understood phenomenon. We generally look at an aircraft as having two kinds of energy: potential from it’s altitude, and kinetic from it’s speed (plus of course thrust from the engines). The wind shear escape maneuver procedure is to increase thrust to the maximum physically possible (“firewall thrust - pushing the power levers all the way to their physical stops, which will produce more than the rated takeoff thrust), while increasing the pitch attitude to the stick shaker limit. The stick shaker is a device which warns of impending aerodynamic stall of the wing (where the amount of lift it can produce suddenly drops very rapidly). You don’t want to stall, as you would now be obtaining even less performance than before, but by trading airspeed (kinetic energy) for altitude (potential energy) the goal is to be able to stay airborne long enough to exit the tailwind portion of the microburst. Oftentimes it’s not that your gaining altitude during the escape maneuver, rather it is that you are limiting your rate of descent - again hopefully enough that you are able to avoid ground contact until you have exited the shear.
Briefly reviewing the NTSB report for this accident, the very limited (by modern standards) Flight Data Recorder did not record engine parameters, and I saw no mention of engine noise or crew statements about increasing thrust - this doesn’t mean that it may not have been done, but it likely wasn’t; as again, the guidance at the time was much less clear than what we have now. The pitch attitude was allowed to decrease, probably initially in an effort to maintain takeoff airspeed as the aircraft entered the increasing tailwind. Unfortunately this resulted exacerbated the aircraft’s descent. The report points out that prior to impact, the airspeed had actually increased 18 knots, and notes that had the first officer increased the pitch to trade that airspeed for altitude they likely would have been able to exit the shear. Again, due to limited knowledge and guidance also and very likely stress and task saturation during an extremely intense situation this was not noticed or acted upon by the crew. I say that not to find fault in their actions - they just didn’t have the tools and resources available now. With modern training, even without any other modern aids such as onboard wind shear alerting, they likely would have survived. As the video points out, their sacrifice was not in vain, as it along with (sadly) a number of other accidents helped to expand our knowledge and greatly enhance the survivability of wind shear encounters.
@@bradcrosier1332 Thanks so much, I think I "get it" now. As my mom used to say: "by the grace of god go I". May they all rest in peace.
What's even more sad is that Captain McCullers and the crew knew they were in for a rough takeoff. They boosted their V-speeds above what they had calculated and turned off A/C packs so that the engines could run at max power. Very safety conscious and smart decisions. It still wasn't enough.
@hostrauser
Thing is the Captain even said there were right in the middle of this thing...
makes you wonder why they didn't delay their take off?
The fact that bird was equipped with the weakest of the JT8D series engines offered on the 727-235 did them no favors. The 7Bs were designed for the much shorter and lighter 727-100, and most carriers buying the 727-200 opted for at least the -9A variant. PanAm hated the former National 727s because they were dogs on initial climb when heavily loaded (as this one was given the pax count and heavy fuel load). McMullers knew they had their work cut out for them. RIP
@@kcindc5539 I never knew they were underpowered that badly. Do you know how much thrust the more powerful engines produced?
@@benclark1753 the original JT8D series were designed specifically for the 727 and offered variants from the -7 variant on the low end at 14,000 lb thrust (the video incorrectly states Clipper Defiance having -7B variants at 15,000 lb thrust) up to 17,000 lb thrust for the -15 variant. The second gen JT8D-200 series were used extensively on MD-80 series aircraft and offered between 18,000 and 21,600 lb thrust. Incidentally the Super 27 retrofit kit swaps in JT8D-217s for engines 1 and 3 (its too big to replace engine 2 in the tail). In 1968 the -9A and 11 in the original engine lineup were options with 14,500 and 15,000 lb respectively. Even the 8% added power from the -11 series engines those National birds were lacking was a sore spot with Pan Am. Even in their financially weaker state they hated not having the best equipped versions of each fleet type for the time.
@@watershed44 pre late 90's if you as a pilot put safety based on a hunch ahead of company profits you could guarantee 1 of 2 things, either you got grounded or forced into early retirement.. thankfully those days are long gone.
I remember this well. I was a flight attendant with EAL at the time. It was a terrible wake-up call for the industry, but then 3 years later a girl I worked with a girl that lost her F/O husband on 191 due to microburst. Hard lessons learned. 35 years as an F/A, and the lessons kept coming. I was with AA in Boston, and lost eleven friends, and co-workers on flight 11 on 9/11. I think of them every day. You make awesome videos. Too bad they will never stop.
F/O? F/A?
My ex worked with Pan Am and lost friends on 9-11 too.
My dad was an airplane pilot. He wanted me to go with him on a couple of flights. I refused because I am afraid of heights plus I'm scared of flying. I had to take a flight home from Las Vegas to Louisiana. The plane stopped in New Mexico and then in Houston. We had a two hour layover in Houston. Being afraid of flying, I sat in the bar in the airport and drank quite a few drinks. When we boarded the flight, I still was scared but not as bad as I was before the layover. I pray that I never have to fly again.
@@highup7 Do you get in A car? 40,000 killed, planes, zero.
@@K1OIK First Officer, Flight Attendant.
So back in 2012, I was involved in a situation that resulted in a pedestrian's death (long story short, they ran out into a busy highway and I was one of 13 vehicles that struck him, me being the second to hit him). Had a final exam for some math course in college the next day and so I contacted my professor. She called me into the office and we talked about rescheduling the exam to the next semester, and when she saw how shaken up I still was, she told me about how she can relate because her parents were both killed in a plane crash in Kenner, and how she was supposed to go with them but canceled to spend more time with her college friends. I mean, completely different scenarios, sure, but having her confide that to me just makes me feel connected to this flight somehow.
Anyways, good video. Keep it up.
Wow! What a sad, amazing story. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully you both have recovered from the shock of your experiences.
This hits home - and your + her story connects to me.
In Sept 1978 the PSA 182 Mid-Air Crash killed a nearly identical # of victims in San Diego, destroyed 10 or 12 homes just a mile from our house.
From school I could see a massive plume of smoke 10+ miles away, and prevailed upon our HS World History teacher to switch on the TV to see what had happened.
Of course pandemonium reigned, sirens would wail all day while fire, police & rescue units would race all to locate treat & transport the 142 victims day & into night.
I'm certain the atmosphere in Kenner Louisiana that day, 4 years later, was exactly the same.
Later in 1986 as a passenger in a 4 seat rental plane, piloted by a church Youth group buddy & student pilot - we got waylaid by developing IFR conditions, when my pilot friend had no such rating - he was Visual Flight Rules only.
This left us trapped above the clouds, somewhere over SoCal, running low on fuel & unable to descend safely.
Right about then, with 30 min if fuel left, we realized we needed a God ordained miracle, or else.
Truly there are NO Atheists in Foxholes.
God be praised we were "rescued" by Flight Emergency Services who once alerted, guided us safely down past Airliner traffic to Burbank International Airport on mere fumes.
When I hear of this sudden death in Kenner / New Orleans in 1982, and my personal brushes with "Flight induced mortality", it's a powerful reminder to me of the brevity & uncertainty of Life - no to fear if we know the Creator & Redeemer of ALL things - Jesus Christ our LORD.
Each time I fly safely in a plane today I utter a prayer for all those whose lives were sacrificed - that those led to systems that have commercial flight SO safe today, that "everyone perished" plane crashes are as RARE today as they could routinely occur then.
The advances in Aviation safety are truly written in Blood !
God Almighty rest the 145 Souls in this tragedy.
How does one person get hit by 13 cars?
@Will Pomeroy Major highway during a Friday night rush. It's possible eye witnesses miscounted, but I don't think there was much left of the poor guy by the time the 5th or 6th car went by.
@@willpomeroy7711
Takes some VERY special footwork I'm quite certain...
I had a college friend who drove an expensive car, especially for a student. I once asked how he could afford it, and he got very quiet and said it cost him way too much. I found out later that his parents were on flight 759. It had been their car.
Doesn't matter if it happened 41 years ago or today, it's still as real. God bless those families.
I was 15 when this happened. Im 56 now. My mom was friends of 2 the of the passengers. Ted and Margaret Eymard. Margaret was 8 months pregnant, they were flying to Vegas for 1 last hoorah before their 4th child was born. They have 3 surviving children Ted Jr, Natalie and Tennille who were raised by other relatives.
yes spiderman
As an ex Army Par/Sar approach controller, that was such a superb job of explaining a microburst that my instructor at Fort Rucker's ATC school could have learned a few things from this video! 🙏😇🤗🦋💜❣️
Excellent tribute to an excellent channel! ✈️🍾❤️
How is Mother Rucker these days? Is Fat Boys still outside the main gate? Is the ATC school still in the old Quonset hut buildings? I was there in 1973 for ATC school and again in 1974 for NCOES and GCA school -- I think we had the an tpx 40 or 43 something like that -- is it still the 284th ATC?
North Maine Guy, we would have been there at the same time, but I was 3 when my Dad was stationed to Rucker in 1973. 😂 We lived there until Dec. 1981. My Dad was an air traffic controller instructor there, did 2 tours plus a year in Korea. I loved Alabama. My Dad was then stationed to Ft. Wainwright, AK, and retired at Ft. Hood, TX.
I’m always so impressed with the thoughtfulness shown by TFC when displaying such devastating situations…. Hats off to everyone involved!
My grandmother was on the next Delta flight leaving New Orleans, and the plane was delayed (obviously!). She remembered that no one would tell them why, and it was hours later that they found out. What an awful tragedy.
I remember when this crashed. I went to see relatives in New Orleans and I was on my way home to Baton Rouge when I heard about it on the radio. I actually passed by the airport twenty-five minutes before it happened. I also heard that a girl refused to get on the plane. She said that she had a strong feeling about not getting on the plane. She refused to board and she escaped death. Innocent people that lived in houses near the airport were killed. The last time I passed by the accident site, the lots of the homes that were destroyed by the plane were still empty lots. I don;t know if homes were built on the lots or are still empty to show the respect for the people who died in their homes.
@@highup7 If they won't be used, they should be converted into a memorial micropark, with some kind of tasteful monument to the people who lost their lives in this tragedy.
Spiderman.. yea off course she can go out the small window.. not even a child can fit in the small window, stop eating stories!
It wouldn’t be until Delta 191 that Microbursts were taken more seriously.
and they still tried to blame the whole crash on the pilots even though it was partially caused by pilot error
My Great uncle (Uncle Pete) was the Flight Engineer on Eastern 66 He was killed when his 727 hit a microburst into JFK.
@@fgrau7376 My Condolences and God Bless.
I remember flying into Dallas and seeing the remaining tail section of Delta 191. I really didn’t want to fly that day.
Much wasn’t understood, and there certainly was a culture (promoted by airline management) of not wanting to delay flights for what was something that might happen - and that was the devious thing about microbursts in particular: They occur with such sudden onset that frequently the preceding aircraft a few minutes prior encountered little to nothing.
Thank you for giving this terrible event recognition. It was such a horrible, sad day. There are very few videos on here about this flight. It makes me feel that that the crash and all the lives lost are forgotten. They are not forgotten here in Kenner and surrounding areas. My dad went to give blood at the hospital for the injured. He came home way too fast, though. They didn't need blood 😥Thank you again.
In the 80's, microbursts were plane killers. The worst part was how hard it was to detect them, even by pilots as skilled as the ones in this video.
RIP to all the plane's passengers and crew, as well as the 8 people on the ground who perished.
Back then, the only solution was to install a vertical speed/altitude alert when positive climb turned to negative. An immediate alert sound would cause the pilots to apply full power and pitch up manouvre to arrest descent. This kind of alert would only work at low altititude, just after take off, and pilots would deactivate it later. It's sad that pilots did not even apply full power. They also did not pull up enough....
@Carlito Canadian Cool Lol ok, that’s a real practical solution.
@carlitocanadiancool6516 gotta ban car travel too, then bicycle, walking, taking a shower. Imagine how many lives would be saved.
The same goes for the pilots of delta 191. The Capitan always avoided thunderstorms, and recognized the wind shift and applied full power but it wasn't enough.
@@carlitocanadiancool6516 Which is funny you say that because there are far more instances of a car crashing than a plane crashing. It's one of the safest forms of transport. Additionally, I'd prefer driving if everyone had as rigorous training as pilots did, but the clowns where I live don't even know how a roundabout works. You may be able to pull over and stop if your car breaks down, but you can't stop the moron who's going 20 above the limit from crossing the centerline.
This still haunts me. I flew on the same flight to San Diego two weeks prior. I was scheduled to return the day after the crash. Same flight, possibly same plane. I begged my parents to come get me or let me take a train home to Louisiana. I was 15 and visiting relatives in San Diego. The reason of the crash was not known that early. I ended up flying. Our flight made 3 additional stops as a precaution. Everyone on board cheered each time we landed. Very stressful.
Landing aint so much the problem.
I was at home only about 10 miles away from that airport when I heard this plane crash. It had been raining most of the day with occasional thunder, but that particular boom I heard was so different than what I'd been hearing that I knew something was wrong. I remember checking my watch for the time. For being only 4 pm-ish it had gotten pretty dark, already, so I'm glad the video looked lighter so you could see what happened. It was on the news pretty quickly and I was so unnerved by the loss of life. Will never forget this.
This was my very first memory! I wasn't even 2-yrs-old at the time, but we lived in Kenner and I distantly remember my mother and aunt running outside in the chaos, trying to figure out what had happened. However, I do vividly recall the smoke, and so many people just frantically running/pacing. Easily my first lifelong memory!
U remember all that b4 the age of 2..? Ur clearly not from this life form 😂😂
@@Yoogi-ed3hz I remember my grandparents watching the moon landing on tv, I wasn't even 2 yet
@@darlenekay8712 that’s impressive and mind blowing and I thought my memory was “Good” lol
@@Yoogi-ed3hz Yep, still remember it, my grandparents GLUED to it watching it on their big ol console tv in Golden Colorado
I lived in Metairie when this happened!
Arriving a little late is preferable to not arriving at all. Hurry-up-itis continues to plague the aviation industry.
Your attention to detail and explaining everything was brilliant
Nash Roberts, the chief meteorologist on WWL TV, said that this was probably a wind shear caused crash about an hour after the incident after analyzing the primitive radar available at the time. Nash had a reputation locally about being correct about weather events. This news clip is elsewhere on you tube.
I also got a chuckle out of the brand new New Orleans Intl. Airport terminal in the video even though the flight was in 1982.
Nash Roberts was an excellent meteorologist, the best.
And also a Southwest airlines plane with the newest livery can be seen on the tarmac lol
Nash Roberts was who you wanted to hear from during hurricane season.
@@davidburke709 with his big black marks-a-lot.
Here is the Nash Roberts video you were referring to..th-cam.com/video/MYdiyZ1U2u0/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=AaronHandyIII
I remember this day very well. I lived not far from MSY, and my aunt and uncle lived a few blocks away from the crash site in Kenner. My uncle said that the smell of jet fuel lingered in the air for a few days afterward.
Me too.
I worked five blocks from the WTC on 9/11. The smell lingered for weeks and weeks. Not just outside but inside our building with no open windows. Watched the second plane hit from the 19th floor and our building shook and we could feel the heat of the fireball. Tragic day I'll never forget.
I also lived in the area just off of Williams/Roosevelt/West Metairie. I also had no idea what had happened. I was coming home and heard lots of sirens. Phone lines were jammed, streets blocked. Very very scary. Kenner made the area a memorial site. 💔
@@vickidvorak5819 I'm glad to hear that they didn't rebuild houses there. I think they should do that at all airport areas that have a crash. You know the airline had to pay the homeowners insurance companies for the claim as well as the families for damages. So it makes sense that the airline would buy the property and donate it. As soon as DIA was built the county approved building permits from developers to turn all the farms in the area into housing. Within a year of the airport's opening homeowners filed a suit for noise abatement. Wacko in my opinion. Another example of how useless zoning is.
2nd block of Roosevelt off Airline Hwy. If it had veered south instead if north it would have taken my house and family.
Living at either end of a runway is a gamble since most accidents occur at takeoff or landing.
Pan Am is probably one of the most unluckiest airlines out there, many of their plane crashes happened not because of their fault purely.
Not to mention they were getting hijacked a lot, and i mean quite a lot..
My friend’s father was on the flight that went down during a snowstorm right after takeoff in 1957. . It had just taken off and went down on Rikers Island just a few minutes after takeoff. .
Several of the prisoners were let out to help rescue those who were still alive.. The ones who died were the results of the fire that broke out from the crash, her father only 35 at the time, was one of them. I remember he brought her to school one day and all the girls saying how tall and handsome he was. He gave me his WW2 sailor cap to use for a school musical I was in. . The school let several classes attend his funeral mass at the local Church. It was so sad and we were all affected by this tragedy.
Part of me hoped that there would have been some survivors but when I learned of the explosion and fire, I knew right then that it was unsurvivable. Those poor people.
I was 10 when this happened and still remember the breaking news.
@Steve Robinson makeup too?
I was working for Delta then, living just a few miles away in Kenner. Tragic.
What a horrible tragedy. These microbursts are so dangerous. It is a good idea to have planes detect and sound a windshear alert. The captain, sadly, though he tried, was unable to rectify the situation. May these poor people rest in peace.
I always feel so sad when I watch this channel and people die, unexpectedly. Thank you for all of your hard work & detailed explanations. RIP to those that died. 💔😢🙏🏻✈️
Didn't they have a plane crash in New Orleans several years prior to this one? I think that the plane crashed and it demolished several hotels across the sreet from the airport. I remember that a group of young adults were in the hotels and when the fire was winding down they saw the remains of the hotel guests and one dead body was found in the shower with the water still on. The girl probably thought that if she was in the shower with the water on she might escape death. She didn't realize how the fire had intense heat. May she RIP.
My son and I were sitting in the yard when we were hit by a real microburst. We each weigh over 200lbs which kept us in place. Everything else was airborne and either departed upwards or was slammed into the front gate via wind channeling through the terrain. It took down a major electrical pylon a few hundred meters from us and most roads were blocked with trees and branches and utility lines. I think it lasted about 12 seconds. It was a privilege to have seen it with only minor consequences.
In 1982, I was a PanAm flight attendant on a flight departing MSY to DCA/JFK several days after the flight 759 crash. Typical of a July afternoon, thunderstorms were building in the area and the captain told me, as purser, to have the flight attendants remain seated after takeoff because of the weather. The 759 crash was still fresh in the minds of the passengers as they boarded and I had to not sound too alarming when I announced that the flight attendants would remain seated after takeoff because of potential turbulence. I remember looking at the passengers I could see in the forward cabin as I made the announcement and their expressions said that was the last thing they wanted to hear. During the taxi for takeoff, we had to do a lot of reassuring to passengers who were suddenly even more anxious than before.
A microburst encounter is both a little more complex and a little simpler than this. Airspeed decreases in the downdraft and on the back side of the microburst due to the tailwind from the outflow. That loss of airspeed causes the nose of the airplane to want to drop due to the decrease in lift. It takes a lot of physical force in a plane like the 727 to hold the nose up in a case like that, something that the accident report from the NTSB also mentions. If a pilot's not expecting to have to use that amount of force, the plane will just pull the yoke forward on its own. The NTSB noted that it took the pilot 6 seconds to respond to the descent, but that in ideal conditions not requiring an abnormal amount of control forces, the minimum required was 4.25 seconds. The control forces required easily account for the difference here. There was not much the pilots could have done in this case once the takeoff was initiated. Only deciding not to take off in the first place would have saved this plane, which would have required better weather reporting capability than existed at the time.
My wife lived nearby. Other people I know lived blocks from the crash site. Bodies were all over, on housetops, in trees, etc. Just a terrible scene
😮
That's horrific. I would not be able to unsee that, no matter how many years passed.
What a way to go, ugh.
Not something I would ever want to see. I've never understood why people slow down to stare at a car wreck on the interstate or anywhere else.
I grew up in River Ridge, and heard some true nightmare stories from some of the Jefferson parish and Kenner policemen. They said those images will haunt them forever
Will always remember this. Was a student at New Orleans Baptist Seminary at that time. Had gotten off work and walked into the dorm and asked why everyone was upset. They told me one of the guys I had classes with had lost his whole family when the plane crashed.
That’s terrible 💔
Every aviation regulation was written in blood…this crash was the catalyst for so many improvements in wind shear and microburst detection and avoidance…no comfort indeed for the families and friends of those lost…may they rest in eternal peace…
It was one catalyst but if the industry had reacted more quickly after the same thing happened 7 years before (Eastern 66), the people on this flight would likely have survived. Not to mention the people on Delta 191.
Flying in and out of Seattle you experience this as well as turbulence from the cascade mountain range and sea air.
I remember that day well.. I work in television and I am so glad that I was not sent out to cover that accident. I don't know if I could have lived with some of the things my colleagues saw that day. Still, seeing it reproduced in flight sim is gut wrenching.
My husband was an off duty Kenner Fire Fighter that day. We were out and saw the smoke. My husband called Fire Dispatch and was told what had happened. He grabbed his gear and went to help in any way he could. He said "it was the worst thing he had ever seen". I think about it every time I hear a plane flying overhead. God bless the people on this flight and on the ground.
The weather was absolutely horrible that day. Blinding rain, wind that blew open my office door at a nearby business. Back then it wasn't unusual to fly in that garbage. I think this crash was responsible for changing a lot of the way things are done.
31 years flying and around 25000 hours......this hits home hard as I have lost close friends to aircraft crashes. I wonder if firewall thrust would have arrested their descent. Thoughts and prayers to all lost in this accident.
40 years and about 9000 hours (I don’t like to work that hard 😉 - mostly 121 non-sched and corporate, with a bit of scheduled service). Reading the NTSB report, firewall thrust and pitch to the stick shaker most likely would have permitted them to escape.
@@bradcrosier1332 it seems that would have been the first thing any crew would do encountering such a desperate situation.
@@LateNightCable - A lot of it goes to training. For instance a lot of emphasis used to be put on not exceeding engine limitations during stall recovery, which I always thought was imbecilic because heaven forbid, if you’re ever in a stall in a jet transport I’d say that’s a pretty good example of a bona-fide emergency. Nonetheless, if you wanted to pass your checkride, you’d better not have exceeded the maximum takeoff or go-around thrust setting - we very diligently taught pilots to always respect those limits. Then one day Air Florida crashed into the Potomac River because the engine probes were iced over, causing the primary thrust indicators to falsely indicate high - the engines weren’t producing full power even though they were capable of it. Had the crew firewalled the power levers, that crash could have been prevented - but they did exactly what they’d been trained to do.
Similarly with reducing angle of attack to recover from a stall - we were trained to power out of the stall while maintaining altitude at all costs, again lest you fail your checkride, which is completely contrary to basic aerodynamics and concepts one learned as a private pilot. Why? Because some bureaucrat at the FAA decided to use what should have been an emergency situation as a measurement of how precisely one could control the aircraft. So instead we ultimately had a series of accidents where pilots held the aircraft in a stalled condition because that’s essentially what they were trained to do and unfortunately the circumstances didn’t match those of the training environment, so the aircraft didn’t “power out” of the stall like they’d been trained it would - Air France 447 being an example thereof. In both those aspects eventually the training was changed, but it was years after the fact in the case of Air Florida, and between the two probably at least a thousand lives were lost - because we were forced to train stupidly (there’s just no other way to put it).
The Flight Data Recorder on Pan Am was so old that it didn’t record engine parameters, so it’s anyone’s guess whether they increased power or not, but in hindsight you’d think they Air Florida crew would have as well. However Thorndike’s laws of learning inform us (amongst other things) about exercise and recency - those things which we regularly practice are most easily recalled, as well as those things which we’ve most recently done. A crew at that time would typically do stall recoveries twice a year in training (as well as everyday on the line) so when a stressful situation arose (such as a windshear encounter) and tunnel vision occurred, you would revert to what you had practiced recently and repeatedly (including daily normal operations): Don’t exceed the engine limitations! Unfortunately this guidance occasionally proved fatal as previously discussed. What happened on Pan Am with respect to the power is conjecture, but I could easily make the argument either way.
Similarly the pitch attitude, in normal operations we absolutely avoid operating at the stick shaker, so it requires specific training to alter that habit pattern when a situation such as wind shear or a terrain warning occurs. Happily we’re doing that now, but that wasn’t always the case, and unfortunately it shows in historical accidents such as this one. It’s sort of a variation on the old adage, “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.” Practicing responses doesn’t yield appropriate outcomes, practicing appropriate responses yields appropriate outcomes.
I know for certain we still have some blind spots (and could name one or two) but in general, we have a much better attitude towards determining what the most appropriate practices are these days than we did just over twenty years ago - so there’s progress, but still more to be done.
I’ve read that the engines on a 727 took up to 8 seconds to fully respond to a thrust input on the flight deck. So whether firewalling the throttles would have affected the outcome probably would depend heavily on how fast the captain or FO could have recognized they were in a microburst. Based on the CVR, if they waited until the GPWS sounded, it probably wouldn’t have mattered as that happened 8 seconds before the crash. On the other hand, if they had gone full thrust the moment they realized they were sinking, it’s possible they could have made it.
Also, it seems likely that both the captain and FO were pulling back on the yoke in the last seconds of flight, meaning no one would have had their hands free to push the throttles forward.
18 years and 2 million-plus miles driving around North America. There IS something which could have prevented this occurrence: postponing the flight. When you're running light or empty through Wyoming in the dead of winter and the wind is 40 gusting to 70...you PARK IT and wait for weather to improve.
Very heart-breaking. The wind must be respected. I was flying a Cessna in Spain some years ago and hit a pocket of what felt like no air to provide lift. My plane dropped like a rock for quite a distance before the wings caught some air. It was definitely a pucker factor moment. I knew I'd hit enough air eventually, but it is a bit unnerving nonetheless.
I remember this one very well. No matter how many years go by.
RIP and condolences to all those who lost loved ones.
Can remember flying out of Amsterdam and all of a sudden it felt like the plane just dropped, heard another passenger saying it seems like we flew through a microburst, this was before I knew what a microburst was but it sure does freak me out knowing what they are capable of....
It is my understanding that another airliner was set to take off prior to PanAm. When the wind shear report was given to the other captain he chose not to take off and taxied clear of the runway. I’m not sure what time period elapsed between the airliner that did not take off and PanAm’s departure from New Orleans. Thank God we have had much better wind shear warning instrumentation now for decades. If you are wondering, I was an airline captain for many years and I’ve seen the improvements. God Bless those that were lost and their families.
I was on that flight that moved over & chose to wait.
It was a Delta flight(also a B 727) & I was a flight attendant working this flight.
Heartbreaking tragedy💔
✝️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
So sad when it takes a tragedy for them to rethink how and what information the captain and crew need to make good, prompt decisions. But still, at that altitude chances weren't in their favor. RIP to all, including the people on the ground. Thank you for another excellent presentation.
it was more so that they just didn't understand how microbursts and wind sheer effected planes. there had been multiple crashes before that but the technology just didn't exist to understand it. it wasn't until the 80's and the ability to do model simulations that things started to change. even at the time the equipment used for wind sheer detection was expensive.
margeebechyne this flight crew DID have a choice - which would have saved everyone's lives - to postpone the flight. Would PanAm have been annoyed? Yep. Better to lose revenue and/or status than your life...
I got to fly a 727 simulator in OK city at the FAA. They hit me with the exact scenario on take off but had the new system installed that cages your artificial horizon to give you the proper attitude and thrust. It took everything I had to hold it in the air and barely made it above ground. Now, take that and put it in a real situation...most pilots will not be able to react quick enough...crazy scary cause there just isn't much you can do once you react...just hold on and prey for lift. Great video .
Visually these reconstructions just keeping better and better (the shot of the Jet turning onto the runway, very life like), but this report excelled in terms of its sound mix. The weather, after all, was the story here, so you have the adjust from the exterior to the interior rain fx. Very neatly done. Thank you.
I lived in Louisiana when this happened. It was terrible.
I used to live in Kenner, and was nearby when this happened. I was 24; these things never fade; I can remember it like yesterday.
This incident was a real kick in the gut to me, a viewer. Probably because it was 'that' close, the 5.9 seconds stated, at the 10:14 mark. RIP to all.
A buddy of mine lives just over on Dearborn. He says there's some paranormal happenings at the crash site
very well expalined picturisation of "microbust".....thank you TFC
*The UNFORTUNATE part is that the pilots KNEW as the captain said, "right in the middle of this" system.....They should have delayed the take off!*
Also, lets not forget the 8 who died on the ground from this.....I don't believe that is in your 145 head count at the end....RIP!
Why does his end head count only flash on the screen for a brief second?
@@dezznutz3743 respect to the victims and their families and perhaps they had to cut the vids length......
You do such an excellent job explaining and presenting things in each video. I learn so much. Love your channel!
Excellent video and explanation about micro bursts and wind shear, thanks. Very sad ending, but it did trigger the need for more tech to detect and help in these situations.
One of the plane’s engines landed in my mom’s friend’s backyard. It was really sad and the baby that survived was my dad’s friend’s cousin. Rest in peace to the 154 people that died. 😢
Damn...he had the right idea....gun it for more speed to push through, but it didn't work.
I was stationed at Kirtland afb amd thunderstorms can be very violent. One day one was parked at the end of the 10,000 foot runway. It produced a micriburst so strong that it caused the rotor blades of of my helicopter to violently jump up and down. It pulled enough on the fuselage to make it jump several times. 1000 feet away it cased the rudders of two c130s to bend the rudder stops
Adding the rain sound when inside the flight deck was great...as these vids always are. 👌
Just flew out of MSY a week ago. My fear has always been wind shear and microbursts. We had horrible turbulence for over an hour. Only flew to be at my mother's funeral.
Sorry for your loss.
Hi
The Flight Channel - simply the best graphics, accurate detail and presentation in the business.
Talk about tears.. I had forgotten about this crash. So many things happened at the airports in NOLA and Baton Rouge over about a 10 year span that have forever made history. God Bless The Dead..... This feels like yesterday. I was 4 and I remember.
With a full fuel load everybody was doomed.
Awesome video as usual! Keep up the great work!
Those infographics to explain microbursts... Awesome!
This was very sad and very tragic.
I'm so sorry to the families of loved ones who have died in this horrendous plane crash. ✝
Many videos I've watched with planes that have crashed were due to bad weather conditions, either Take-off or Landing.
To be a pilot is to just be constantly aware of the thousands of aerodynamic factors that can affect your jet from the very beginning to the end of the flight when you are driving your plane to the taxiway. He just had around 6 seconds to react to the descent where he had to increase the pitch to avoid the stall. With everything you have to take care of during takeoff, this additional concern of microbursts is not something you can worry about in 6 seconds. I really hope pilots everywhere get the respect they deserve because the moment you are not aware of something, it costs people their lives. Add that to the workload they have.
For sure, I believe pilots are definitely underappreciated
Excellent job. Graphics were spot on.
I was waiting for my brother's flight to come in when I saw this crash from the gate. This was in the pre-internet age so we never new what happened.
Thank you for the good explanation of microbursts. This is really a very sad story....
This is the second micro--burst crash at takeoff I've seen recently. Nix those takeoffs until hazard has passed. The dead would rather be late.
I remember this crash pretty vividly as one of the passengers was a close relative of one of my teachers. I was just a kid, but it was the first time that I had ever heard of wind shear or microbursts. Likely the first time most folks heard those terms. Then the crash a few years later made it a fairly commonly heard thing. Horrible.
I'm not sure recovery is as simple as achieving a higher pitch on takeoff which increases angle of attack especially at lower airspeed from the down/ back draft. The only cure I see is not taking off in down-burst / sheer event. Although, you can't see it.
It’s a bit more complicated, but yes, that is part of the wind shear escape maneuver. I posted a more detailed explanation to another comment on this video if you care to read it.
8:18 makes it look like the pilots first experienced a welcome uplift of their aircraft when they entered the microburst outflow, followed immediately by the horror of flying directly into inflow that forced their aircraft to the ground. So very sad. It was certainly no one's fault. Everything happened too fast for a reaction from the human pilots. If computers had been piloting, they may have been able to save the aircraft.
I remember this and the miracle baby that survived on the ground but lost her mother and sister. This is a well made video by the way.
Ya know, despite the risk of crashing and dying, I still love flying. I can't afford to do it much, but I just love the feeling of being up in the air and how you can feel the plane changing its speed and height, I even find turbulence to be a bit fun. If in a plane is how I go out, then so be it, because I will still take any chance I get to fly.
Just remember, you're hundreds of times more likely to die on the drives to and from the airport, than anything that happens in a plane.
Airline crashes aren't so common, and flying today is the safest its ever been. I flew commercial last year, and the time it takes to travel 500 miles, in about 1 hr, is phenomenal compared to traveling in a car or train. It's the fastest way to go.
Ya?
I remember Pan Am flight 214 back in 1963.
This flight originated in San Juan Puerto Rico and it was on its final leg of flight to Baltimore.
This flight flew into severe weather. The report said it went through a Microburst.
See the complete report “Pan Am 214”.
This flight didn’t make it. It was on his approach to Baltimore.
I was an 8 year old kid and my family and I were watching a thunderstorm rolling across the Elk River that night in 1963. There was an extremely bright strike of lightning and soon afterward, a loud explosion echoed down the river. The next day, we discovered a plane had crashed on outskirts of Elkton, MD. We were certain we had seen the plane being struck by lightning that night. I recall stories about the local firefighters and emergency workers responding to a scene of absolute carnage. I often think of those souls aboard the doomed plane that night whenever a thunderstorm rolls down the Elk River.
Philip; Hello, yes, Pan Am 214 was an especially awful air-crash. The flight did make it safely into Baltimore (from San Juan) and the 707 then proceeded on to Philadelphia, the final leg of the flight's destination. Heavy thunder storms in the Philadelphia area put the 707 in a holding pattern (with five other flights) for close to an hour, while the pilot waited for the storm to pass over. The pilot did have the option of diverting to Boston, but elected to wait out the storm. The official cause of the crash was indeed deemed to be a lightening strike which ignited a fuel tank. The resulting explosion and crash took the life of all onboard that December 1963 day - 81 souls in all.
They found a miracle baby under a mattress 2 hours after the tragic event. Her story is inspiring, she lost her mom and sister that day. Her father was at work.
This crash was 'shear' bad luck. RIP. On a serious note, the dilated time it takes to analyze these sequences of events belies just how quickly things escalate in the vast majority of crashes. Commenters are usually quick to say " how could they not.." or " why didn't they just..." If you watch things unfold in real time, you'd have a lot of appreciation even for seasoned pilots who get it wrong/don't figure it out quickly enough. At aircraft speeds, taking seconds too long to hone in to the real problem is often the difference between life and death. All the training in the world cannot completely replicate the brain's response prolife in real life & death situations - when there's the added stress that getting it wrong will kill you and many people. Add confirmation bias and tunnel vision, which seem to come to the forefront in high adrenaline situations, and the deck is stacked against pilots, especially those facing the inevitable complacency from years of routine, uneventful, boring flying when it all just works... So, MUCH RESPECT to ALL responsible airline pilots. Even those who may have called it wrong when the deck was stacked against them. Flying is so ridiculously safe that the public has forgotten just what a miracle that fact is when you consider all the variables involved.
Great comment, Bus. What a life these pilots live, putting in hundreds of steady, almost boring hours, and then having to make near-instant decisions and alterations with so many lives in the balance. Takes a special kind of person.
I lived a few miles away from where the crash site. I was 8 yrs old and remember the traffic, road closures, and a weird burnt pancake smell in the air.
I was a young mother and wife visiting at my aunt's house, who lived in Metarie, LA, when the crash happened. I remember it well. Horrible!
I was on a Southwest flight to Houston that afternoon in NO. Had drinks in the Pan Am Clipper Club when they called flight 759. I boarded my Southwest Flight. The weather was horrific. The sky was black and it was raining like a tropical storm. Not at all like the simulation here. We sat on the tarmac for quite a while and then moved to another runway for takeoff. It was the scariest takeoff of my life. Wind shear tilted our 737 left and down probably 35 degrees. We finally made it to a normal attitude. When we landed at Hobby in Houston the Southwest pilot came on the intercom and, crying, said that we were being Pan Am 759 and that he had watched it crash. Stunningly, our flight was directed to another runway to take off. They THEN closed the airport. On Monday morning, I returned to NO on Southwest and there was still smoke in Kenner. A nightmare that continues to haunt me.
I was working in the radar room at BUR when a supervisor announced that Pan Am (Clipper) had just crashed on takeoff in New Orleans -- bad news travels fast in the aviation industry...
This is a very well made clip! There must be a lot of research and effort put in! 👏🏻👍🏻
Your videos are so good! Keep up the great work!
You can make a video for Argentina LAPA 3142 disaster. A plane that couldn't take off and crashed into a gas station, what make a fire and killed almost all people that survivied the initial crash.
I go to the New Orleans Airport on average 6 times a year. And am heading there in 9 days. Makes me look at the place differently now. And yes actually near or in town of Kenner. Very close housing area. I didn't know of this tragedy. Great video. But sad of course.
MSY has wild weather especially during the summer. TACA 110 perfect example--torrential rain and ice in the engines killed both of them. Phenomenal skill of Pilots Dardano and Lopez saved the aircraft and having a levee to land on was near miraculous.
Another EXCELLENT video by TheFlightChannel !
Absolutely excellent windshear and microburst explanation .
There were several of these crashes in the 80’s
I was 6 blocks away skipping school and at my girlfriends house the day this happened. I remember that day vividly.
Your videos are brilliant. Your explanation of windshear was spot on. Love your channel.
As always great video and explanation. I always look forward to Thursday and your channel.
Terrifying example of weather messing up the world. I always check my weather with my flights now.
I took flying lessons YEARS ago, so I'm far from being an expert. However, from what I gather at the onset of this video, is that the Crew knew microburst activity was in the area? Why did they proceed and not delay take-off?!
Thank you for providing on point information as always, (Rest in Peace to those who have passed). A few days ago there was a plane crash in Western Australia, a Boeing 737 (one that is used to drop water on the bushfires that happen in Australia) it crashed whilst trying to put out the Bushfires. Luckily the only 2 occupants (the pilots) escaped the wreckage and survived. Thought you’d find it interesting and could possibly make a video about this if possible. Thank you.
To this day, the area that the plane crashed is just an open field now.
Absolutely amazing production! Keep them coming!
Current wind shear recovery procedures seem to be working since there hasn't been a windshear accident for quite a while. Max power, pitch up to the stall stick shaker and don't reconfigure.
Another great vid by Flight Channel and an older one on microbursts regarding Delta Flight 191 that Flight Channel made. It was good to see that there was more time paying honor to those that died in this crash was made. When I compare the newer Flight Channel videos, I notice there is no longer the great introductory music-it set a very special tone. And most importantly, many of the newer videos paid just seconds of homage to those that died instead of lasting several seconds so that the reader could absorb such. I wish that these two items would be addressed for it takes away from otherwise great vids.
I lived in Dallas when 191 crashed 3 years after this one. That's the one that made the FAA take microbursts and wind shear seriously enough to have detection equipment installed at all major airports. I'll remember seeing the tail section sitting there for several days for the rest of my life.
Terrible bad luck. It’s hard to believe that wind shear could be so vicious. I would have thought that the ground effects would have diminished the shear enough that the plane could maintain at least 600 feet of altitude. ✝️
I had a friend that lived in Kenner - she said you could smell the residual jet fuel for months and months after this tragedy. That reality had never occurred to me - I had left Southwest Airlines the year before and this really shook me to the core, even more so, when I moved to New Orleans.
These videos are best watched with headphones on. The sounds are very immersive. 👍🏻 Another wonderfully done video! 😊
Yes I noticed that especially on this video when I was enjoying the rain patter on the roof of the jet. 😊
This tragedy happened despite three of Pan Am's best 727 crew members in the cockpit.
Super vid as always sir. Thank you so much for your time and effort you put into these videos. They are very well done, informative, and very complete.
Microbursts are a scary thing. To bad it is impossible to tell where and when they are going to happen. Mother Nature is wild.
WTF is a vid?
@@K1OIK vidalia onion
Like an invisible hand slapping it to the ground.