Hughes Airwest 706 Flight is a regularly scheduled flight operated by domestic US airline Hughes Airwest, from Los Angeles, California, to Seattle, Washington, with several intermediate stops. On Sunday, June 6, 1971, Douglas DC-9-31 served an air-collision flight with the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II of the United States Marine Corps in southern California, killing all passengers and crew on DC -9.
Flight 706 had left Los Angeles just after 6 pm on the way to Seattle, with a scheduled stopover in Salt Lake City, Utah; Boise and Lewiston in Idaho; and Pasco and Yakima in Washington. The F-4 Phantom arrived at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro near Irvine, California at the end of a flight from Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada. F-4 pilots and all 49 passengers and crew on board civilian aircraft were killed in a collision over the San Gabriel Mountains, near Duarte, California. Only F-4 Radar Intercept Officer survived. The 706 Flight Accident prompted the United States Army to approve both of reducing the number of military aircraft operating under visual flight regulations in civil air corridors, and to require military aircraft to contact civilian air traffic controllers.
Video Hughes Airwest Flight 706
Flight history
Flight 706 is a scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles International Airport, California, to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Washington. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 aircraft has accumulated more than 5,500 hours of airframe since entering service in 1969. The aircraft operates under the livery and name of Air West. The airline was recently purchased by Howard Hughes and renamed Hughes Airwest.
The aircraft was piloted by Captain Theodore Nicolay, 50, who has recorded about 15,500 hours of total flying time, with more than 2,500 hours at DC-9. His co-pilot is First Officer Price Bruner, age 49, who has more than 17,100 hours of flying time and nearly 300 hours on DC-9. Other crew members included three flight attendants: Joan R. Puylaar, 34, Patricia Shelton, 28, and Helena Koskimies, age 30.
Flight 706 departs from Los Angeles at 06:00 local time. PDT, headed for Salt Lake City, Utah, the first of 5 mid-sized stops, en route to Seattle. Flight control is transferred to the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center at 6:00 am, 4 minutes after take-off, and passes 12,000 feet (3,700 m) at 06:09 pm. and ordered to go 040 (magnetic) until receiving DAGgett VOR, then directly. Flight recognition 706 on this instruction is the last radio transmission received from the aircraft.
US Marine Corps F-4B-18-MC Phantom II, Bureau Number (BuNo) 151458 , coded '458', has been operating since April 15, 1964. At the time of the accident was assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 , Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Air Wing, although it has been operated by various squadrons before that. The fighter was piloted by First Lieutenant James R. Phillips, age 27. The Radar Intercept Officer was First Lieutenant Christopher E. Schiess, age 24. Among them, the pilot had more than 1,000 hours of total flight. Jet and its crew are based at MCAS El Toro.
'458' was part of a cross-country flight of two aircraft when the radio failed when it landed at Mount Air Air Force Base in southwestern Idaho. The aircraft was ordered to make repairs at Mountain Home AFB and then back to MCAS El Toro. Diagnostic tests at Mountain Home revealed that the plane had a non-functioning radio, an inoperative transponder, an oxygen leak, and a radar system damaged. Maintenance personnel can repair the radio and confirm the oxygen leak, but the base does not have the personnel needed to repair a transponder or radar.
Phillips received permission from his superiors to fly the F-4B with an inoperative transponder. When the fighter was headed for NAS Fallon in Nevada, the oxygen leak got worse until the system was completely dead, and the pilot was ordered to fly at low altitudes. Phantom II departs from NAS Fallon at 5:16. Following the flight routes in the Fresno, Bakersfield, and Los Angeles air corridors.
Flight 706 operates under the instrument flight rules (IFR). Under the IFR procedure, the pilot guides the aircraft using the cockpit instrument panel for navigation, in addition to radio guidance from air traffic controllers and ground radar. BuNo 151458 operates under visual flight rules (VFR). At the time of the accident, the VFR requires pilots to "see and avoid" other aircraft, a doctrine derived from early flights. The "see and avoid" rules require pilots of all aircraft flying in the VMC to guard other aircraft vigilance around them, in addition to traffic advisors from ATC.
Maps Hughes Airwest Flight 706
Collision
Near the Bakersfield Aviation Station, the '458' crew decided to deviate from the east from their flight plan to avoid heavy air traffic in the Los Angeles area. Lieutenant Phillips was forced to climb up to 15,500 feet (4,700 m) from 1,000 feet (300 m) due to deteriorating weather conditions. Meanwhile, shortly after takeoff, Flight 706 received two radar traffic advisors, both of which did not indicate the presence of '458'.
Immediately after reaching 15,500 feet (4,700 m), the DME fighter (radio) shows MCAS El Toro within 50 miles (80 km). The '458' pilot then rolls out the aileron, the flight maneuver that toppled the 360 ​​Â ° plane so that the pilot can observe air traffic above or below the plane. Lt. Schiess, Radar Intercept Officer, operates a fighter radar, which can not detect any aircraft due to its deteriorating condition. Because of the position of the supported scope, he has leaned forward and looked down on the instrument. Between three and ten seconds before the collision, he looked up and watched DC-9 in his peripheral vision and shouted a warning to the pilot. The pilot tried to roll the bullet but could not clean the forthcoming aircraft.
At around 6:11 pm, Flight 706 and '458' collided at an altitude of about 15,150 feet (4,620 m), above the San Gabriel Mountains around Duarte. The collision ripped the tail of the F-4, and the DC-9 cockpit was turned off as a result. The plane jolted "rolled" in the air and fell down. The witnesses near Duarte describe hearing loud voices and seeing two objects glow falling from the sky. The second explosion rocked the area when the DC-9 hit the mountain. Lt. Schiess, Radar Intercept Officer, was removed from the F-4B and deployed to safety; Lieutenant Phillips, the pilot, could not get out on time, and was killed. The F-4B crashed on Mount Bliss, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the wreckage of the plane. Burning debris from collisions and subsequent crashes triggered many small brush fires in the area. The debris is scattered about a mile from an almost inaccessible field in the Angeles National Forest.
Investigation
The stricken aircraft crashed into Mount Bliss in the San Gabriel Mountains at an altitude of about 3,000 feet (910 m), where most of the wreckage landed in a ravine. Firefighters sent search and rescue helicopters to the crash site, but efforts were blocked by heavy fog. Nine bodies were initially found at the site of the fall, some of them still intact and still tied in their seats. News reports indicate that these bodies appear to have been thrown clear about the impact, and have come to rest beside the tail section of the plane.
Eyewitnesses reported that the right-wing F-4B hit the center of the fuselage immediately after doing a barrel roll. Other witnesses claim that the F-4B tore a large hole inside the DC-9 plane, where paper and suitcase flowed when the paralyzed plane crashed. Although the paper with the words "Air West" and dated June 6 was collected by the Sheriff's deputies, no luggage was found.
The National Transportation Safety Agency (NTSB) investigated the incident, assisted by the Marine Corps, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Hughes Airwest, and the Airline Pilot Association. The preliminary statement released by the NTSB revealed that F-4B fighter aircraft had tried to veer away from DC-9 immediately before impact, and that an additional 10 feet from the permitted distance would prevent the entire collision. In addition, the NTSB confirmed that the fighter had impacted the DC-9 in two places, with its right wing affecting the front passenger cabin of the plane and the vertical stabilizer "slicing" the cockpit.
The DC-9 carries a primitive flight data recorder that records basic information about air velocity, acceleration, heading, and aircraft altitude on metal foil tape. In addition, the aircraft is equipped with a simple cockpit voice recorder that records all conversations that occur in the cockpit of the aircraft. Flight recorders were discovered by investigators on Thursday, June 10, 1971, and sent to Washington D.C. for analysis. Although the sound recorder also recovers, thermal protection measures have failed and the tape recordings are destroyed by fire.
Survivability
The NTSB decided that there could be no passengers on board the Hughes Airwest DC-9 aircraft to survive crashes, disintegrations, and aircraft crashes. Despite severe land fires destroying both crash sites, the NTSB decided that all the victims had died in the accident itself.
It was determined, however, that both crew members on Marine F-4B could survive the collision. Further investigations by the NTSB revealed design flaws in ejector seats and canopy assemblies from fighter aircraft in which the pilot might not be able to remove if the officer intercepted the radar issued first. Since the specific design of the ejector seat mounted on the F-4B is not intended to be fired through the aircraft's canopy, the circuit breaker holds the chair to avoid being ejected if the canopy is installed. After the canopy is manually opened, the ejector seat circuit is finished and can be fired. The design of this particular ejector chair, however, has a tendency of not being able to complete the circuit in the pilot ejector seat if the rear eftor seat is fired first. The F-4B aircraft is in the process of being modified with a new canopy designed when a collision occurs. Elasso-based MCAS aircraft are scheduled to begin upgrading in July 1971; at the time of the collision, BuNo 151458 is still operating with the original canopy configuration, and the pilot can not get out of the plane.
Possible causes and recommendations
NTSB released their latest accident report on August 30, 1972. The report concludes:
During an accident investigation, NTSB sought to recreate the crash conditions to determine BuNo458's visibility on June 6th. They also calculate that their closing rate is about 1000 ft/s, equal to the speed of a muzzle. The.45 caliber weapon, the NTSB, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Marine Corps flew a series of F-4B fighters along the flight path described by Lt. Schiess, radar intercept officer, and various witnesses. While the tests were sufficient to determine the difficulty in locating and identifying fighters on the radar scope, many other variables involved in the June 6 incident, including the '458' deteriorating conditions, jeopardized the validity of the study. This inability to ensure proper action and air traffic control conditions leads the NTSB to recommend that the FAA install both video and audio surveillance in all areas of air traffic control.
The NTSB report includes a total of five recommendations for the FAA. These recommendations include: installing recorders for radar displays, installing audio conversation recorders at air traffic control facilities; building corridors up and down under positive ATC control around the air terminal; and establish a more definite procedure for receiving and handling the emergency transponder codes 7700. In addition, the NTSB strongly recommends that the FAA and the Department of Defense work together to develop the program, in areas where there is a great deal of civil and military traffic, to ensure that the depiction Proper graphics of typical airspace utilization and flow patterns are clearly displayed at all airports and operational bases for the benefit of all airspace users.
In addition to this recommendation, the NTSB also recommends that the Department of Defense restrict the operation of high-speed and low-altitude aircraft in civil air corridors, consider crash avoidance technology on military aircraft, and make military pilots aware of FAA radar consulting services.
Aftermath
Congressmen Sherman P. Lloyd (R-Utah) and Henry S. Reuss (D-Wis) condemned the actions of Marines jet fighters, whose media at that time indicated they had "dwarfed" before the crash. In fact, the 360 ​​Â ° aileron roll maneuver performed by fighter pilots is to observe any air traffic above or below the plane. Lloyd said that military aircraft should be required to establish contacts with air traffic controllers when entering high-traffic air corridors and around the airport, while Reuss advocates a full ban of military aircraft from any high civil air traffic corridor. Senator Frank Moss (D-Utah) sponsored a bill in December that would require the installation of anti-collision equipment on all aircraft in 1975.
VFR and "see and avoid" the doctrine faces sharp criticism in the media. Oscar M. Laurel, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board team (NTSB) investigating the accident, is widely quoted as saying that "it might be a good time to look again" on VFR flights near the metropolitan area.
The validity of "seeing and avoiding" doctrine as a means of safe aircraft navigation is the point of contention between the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The NTSB has blamed the doctrine in several previous collisions, including a collision in 1969 from Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 with a privately owned Piper PA-28 and a 1967 collision of the Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 with privately owned Cessna 310. The FAA denies these findings and insists that, regardless of the mode of operation, it is the pilot's duty to know the existence of airplanes around his home.
In March 1971, NTSB released a report summarizing the findings of a collision research in the air. The report shows that 204 of the 396 fatalities in a US jet crash since 1967 occurred in an air collision. In addition, the near-misfortune situation involving jet aircraft occurs on average at least once per day, with the Los Angeles and New York areas being noted as highly risky. Finally, the report notes that the current trend in air sacrifices shows that 528 more people will die in aerial crashes over the next ten years. These figures do not include the casualties of Flight 706.
An FAA study in 1968 found that a quarter of 2,230 near-miss aircraft meetings reported that year had involved a military aircraft. After the collision of Flight 706, FAA and the US Military agreed to reduce VFR flights and operate under IFR. This transition will require military aircraft to propose flight plans and adhere to civilian air traffic controllers.
On June 21, 1971, 15 days after the collision, the Airline Pilot Association and the Professional Air Traffic Control Organization issued a joint statement, requesting the FAA for a series of safety regulations covering a speed limit of 250 knots (290 mph) for aircraft operating under VFR. Other demands include the installation of transponders on all aircraft to strengthen the presence of aircraft on the radar screen, and re-evaluation of VFRs due to increased complexity, congestion, and modern air travel speeds.
The New York Times reported that the incidence of deaths in commercial aviation accidents had risen sharply in 1971, up from 146 deaths in 1970 and 158 deaths in 1969. In addition, these deaths occurred when the flight cut return flights due to economic recession, and airlines have flown about 6% less in 1971 than in 1970. Eight fatal accidents of 1971 included three air collisions and four landing accidents; one of these collisions, All Nippon Airways Flight 58, which also involves military aircraft, became the deadliest air disaster in the world at the time it occurred with 162 deaths. In addition, 1971 saw the Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 accident, at the time of the worst plane crash in US civil aviation history.
Later that year, Hughes Airwest changed its mark to its yellow signature.
Litigation
A week after the accident, families of various passengers over Flight 706 began filing lawsuits and court documents against Hughes Airwest and, later, the United States government. The first submission was by the family of Keith A. Gabel, who filed a motion to immortalize testimony in the Central District of California on June 16, 1971. This motion requested that the court issue a court order for a person's deposition to be taken, and can be done before the lawsuit was filed under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Lawsuits against the United States government were postponed six months by the Federal Tort Claims Act. In January 1972, the Gabel family filed a lawsuit against the United States that contained class-action allegations and sought "declarative decisions on accountability issues". The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation decided to move all related court actions to the Central District of California. Eleven actions were transferred in July 1972. The US District Court ordered the transfer of all 72 actions filed in another district court to be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Central District on 19 March 1973.
On August 30, 1972, all cases were consolidated into one case to determine liability. The cases against the United States, Hughes Airwest and Hughes Air Corporation were consolidated into a single class action lawsuit in October 1972. On 5 April 1973, Hughes Airwest and the US Government agreed not to challenge the issue of responsibility. Most prosecutors settled in December 1973 for payment of various amounts negotiated.
Dramatization
The story of the accident was shown in the thirteenth season of the Canadian TV series Mayday (known as Air Emergency in the US, Mayday in Ireland and Air Crash Investigations at England and the rest of the world) in an episode titled "Speed ​​Trap". It is also a feature of the episode "Water Disaster" on The Smithsonian Channel.
See also
- List of accidents and incidents involving planes in the United States
- Air collision
- Air collisions associated with "see and avoid" doctrine
- Allegheny Airlines Flight 853, 1969
- Flights to Piedmont Airlines 22, 1967
- TWA Flight 553, 1967
- A similar accident
- All Nippon Airways 58 flights
References
External links
- Photo of the crash site DC-9. Airdisaster.com. Retrieved 2011-01-17.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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