Over the area of 4 years within the Nineteen Nineties, two Atlantic Southeast Airways commuter flights crashed beneath comparable circumstances. On April 5, 1991, an Atlantic Southeast Airways Embraer EMB-120RT Brasilia working on behalf of Delta Connection took off from Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport (ATL) certain for Brunswick Golden Isles Airport (BQK) on Georgia’s southeastern coast.
Piloting the plane was 34-year-old Captain Mark Friedline, a extremely skilled pilot who had been concerned within the improvement of the EMB-120 and its introduction in america. On the time of the crash, he had 11,724 flying hours, of which 5,720 hours had been within the EMB-120. The primary officer for the flight was 36-year-old Hank Johnson, a certified flight teacher with a complete of three,925 flying hours, of which 2,795 hours had been within the EMB-120.
The airplane was making a visible method when one thing all of a sudden went incorrect
On the day of the accident, Flight, 2311 departed Atlanta at 13:47 and deviated barely astray to keep away from dangerous climate. At 14:48, the crew radioed Air Visitors Management (ATC) to say that that they had the airport in sight, and permission was given for a visible method which the crew acknowledged.
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Because the plane approached the airport, witnesses on the bottom reported the airplane being at a a lot decrease peak than was standard for plane touchdown in Brunswick. A number of individuals interviewed mentioned the airplane handed over them on the peak of between 100 and 200 ft. Instantly the plane rolled to the left and nose-dived into the bottom killing all 23 passengers and crew.
The investigation of the crash
Whereas investigating the accident, the Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) discovered no mechanical points with the engines. They then turned their consideration to the airplane’s Hamilton Customary propellors theorizing {that a} propeller system malfunction had occurred. In its ultimate report revealed on April 28, 1992, the NTSB listed a malfunction of the left engine propeller management unit because the possible reason behind the crash.
Atlantic Southeast Airways Flight 529
4 years later, on August 4, 1995, an Atlantic Southeast Airways Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia plane crashed in comparable circumstances killing 9 of the 29 passengers and crew.
Atlantic Southeast Airways Flight 529 was a repeatedly scheduled passenger flight from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport (ATL) to Gulfport-Biloxi Worldwide Airport (GPT) in Gulfport, Mississippi. Not like Flight 2311, the plane was geared up with a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and a flight information recorder (FDR).
The captain in command of the flight was 45-year-old Edwin Gannaway, a talented pilot with 9,876 flight hours of which 7,384 had been within the Embraer Brasilia. The primary officer was 28-year-old Matthew Warmerdam, who had 1,193 flight hours, of which 363 had been within the Embraer Brasilia.
The airplane took off on time from Atlanta at 12:23, and whereas climbing by 18,100 ft, occupants of the plane heard a loud thud that gave the impression of a baseball bat hitting a trash can. The reason for the noise was one of many left facet propeller blades had change into indifferent. Regardless of having the ability to fly safely on only one engine, the extreme drag and lack of carry on the left wing triggered the airplane to lose altitude.
Radioing that they had been in bother, the crew began in search of a subject the place they may make an emergency touchdown. After skidding alongside the bottom for far, the airplane encountered an incline and have become airborne once more earlier than hitting the bottom and breaking apart. The airplane caught on hearth a minute following the crash, hampering the surviving passenger’s makes an attempt to evacuate.
Throughout its investigation, The Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) concluded that steel fatigue was responsible and criticized Hamilton Customary for not sustaining the blades correctly.
