ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 N1335U New Hope, GA

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Accident description

Last updated: 24 May 2013

Status:	Final
Date:	04 APR 1977
Time:	16:19 EST
Type:	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31
Operator:	Southern Airways
Registration:	N1335U
C/n / msn:	47393/608
First flight:	1971
Total airframe hrs:	15405
Engines:	2 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7A
Crew:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4
Passengers:	Fatalities: 61 / Occupants: 81
Total:	Fatalities: 63 / Occupants: 85
Ground casualties:	Fatalities: 9
Airplane damage:	Written off
Airplane fate:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:	New Hope, GA (United States of America)
Phase:	En route (ENR)
Nature:	Domestic Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:	Huntsville-Madison County Airport, AL (HSV/KHSV), United States of America
Destination airport:	Atlanta Municipal Airport, GA (ATL/KATL), United States of America
Flightnumber:	242

Narrative:
Southern Fight 242 (Huntsville-Atlanta) entered severe thunderstorms between FL170 and FL140 over Rome, GA. Both engines failed and couldn't be restarted. An emergency landing was carried out on State Spur Highway 92. The aircraft crashed.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "Total and unique loss of thrust from both engines while the aircraft was penetrating an area of severe thunderstorms. The loss of thrust was caused by the ingestion of massive amounts of water and hail which, in combination with thrust lever movement, induced severe stalling in and major damage to the engine compressors.
Major contributing factors include the failure of the company's dispatching system to provide the flight crew with up-to-date severe weather information pertaining to the aircraft's intended route of flight, the captain's reliance on airborne weather radar for penetration of thunderstorm areas, and limitations in the FAA's ATC system which precluded the timely dissemination of real-time hazardous weather information to the flight crew."

Events:

Sources:
» NTSB-AAR-78-3
» Landmark Accidents: Deadly Surprise: Thunderstorms require a wide berth (AOPA Pilot, August 1998 Volume 41 / Number 8)

Official accident investigation report

investigating agency:	National Transport Safety Bureau (NTSB) - USA
report status:	Final
report number:	NTSB/AAR-78-03
report released:	26-JAN-1978
duration of investigation:	297 days (9.9 months)
download report:	Southern Airways, Inc., DC-9-31, N1335U, New Hope, Georgia, April 4, 1977. (NTSB/AAR-78-03)

Sample newspaper article from Newspaperarchive.com

Follow-up / safety actions

NTSB issued 8 Safety Recommendations

Issued: 20-SEP-1977	To:	A-77-063
EXPEDITE THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN AVIATION WEATHER SUBSYSTEM FOR BOTH EN ROUTE AND TERMINAL AREA ENVIRONMENTS, WHICH IS CAPABLE OF PROVIDING A REAL-TIME DISPLAY OF EITHER PRECIPITATION OR TURBULENCE, OR BOTH AND WHICH INCLUDES A MULTIPLE-INTENSITY CLASSIFICATION SCHEME. TRANSMIT THIS INFORMATION TO PILOTS EITHER VIA THE CONTROLLER AS A SAFETY ADVISORY OR VIA AN ELECTRONIC DATA LINK. (Closed - Acceptable Action)
Issued: 20-SEP-1977	To:	A-77-064
ESTABLISH A STANDARD SCALE OF THUNDERSTORM INTENSITY BASED ON THE NWS\' SIX-LEVEL SCALE AND PROMOTE ITS WIDESPREAD USE AS A COMMON LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE THUNDERSTORM PRECIPITATION INTENSITY. ADDITIONALLY, INDOCTRINATE PILOTS AND AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL PERSONNEL IN THE USE OF THIS SYSTEM. (Closed - Acceptable Action)
Issued: 28-SEP-1977	To:	A-77-065
TRANSMIT SIGMET\'S MORE FREQUENTLY ON NAVAIDS SO THAT PILOTS CAN RECEIVE MORE TIMELY INFORMATION ABOUT HAZARDOUS WEATHER. (Closed - Acceptable Alternate Action)
Issued: 28-SEP-1977	To:	A-77-066
CODE, ACCORDING TO GEOGRAPHIC APPLICABILITY, SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH BULLETINS AND TORNADO WATCH BULLETINS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER SO THAT THEY MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO APPROPRIATE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL FACILITIES BY THE FAA WEATHER MESSAGE SWITCHING CENTER; THUS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL FACILITIES CAN RELAY THE EARLIEST WARNING OF SEVERE WEATHER TO FLIGHTCREWS. (Closed - Acceptable Action)
Issued: 28-SEP-1977	To:	A-77-067
REQUIRE THAT EACH AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL FACILITY DEPICT ON THE MAP PORTION OF ITS RADAR DISPLAYS, THOSE AIRPORTS IMMEDIATELY OUTSIDE OF THAT FACILITY\'S JURISDICTION TO THE EXTENT THAT ADJACENT FACILITIES DEPICT THOSE AIRPORTS ON THEIR DISPLAYS. (Closed - Acceptable Action)
Issued: 28-OCT-1977	To:	A-77-068
FORMULATE RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE TIMELY DISSEMINATION BY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS OF ALL AVAILABLE SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION TO INBOUND AND OUTBOUND FLIGHTCREWS IN THE TERMINAL AREA. (Closed - Acceptable Action)
Issued: 30-JAN-1978	To: FAA	A-78-001
INITIATE RESEARCH TO DETERMINE THE ATTENUATING EFFECTS OF VARIOUS LEVELS OF PRECIPITATION AND ICING ON AIRBORNE RADOMES OF BOTH X- AND C- BAND RADAR, AND DISSEMINATE TO THE AVIATION COMMUNITY ANY DATA DERIVED CONCERNING THE LIMITATIONS OF AIRBORNE RADAR IN PRECIPITATION. (Closed - Acceptable Action)
Issued: 30-JAN-1978	To:	A-78-002
EXPEDITE ITS REVIEW OF RECOMMENDATION A-73-40 WITH A VIEW TOWARD EARLY REQUIREMENT OF PROPERLY DESIGNED SHOULDER HARNESSES AT FLIGHT ATTENDANT STATIONS IN AIR CARRIER AIRCRAFT. (Closed - Acceptable Action)

Show all AD's and Safety Recommendations

Photos

photo of McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 N1335U

Map

This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Huntsville-Madison County Airport, AL to Atlanta Municipal Airport, GA as the crow flies is 241 km (151 miles).

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