TWA Flight 843

TWA Flight 843 (TW843, TWA843) was a scheduled a Trans World Airlines passenger flight that crashed after an aborted takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York) to San Francisco International Airport (California) in July 1992. Despite an intense fire after the crash, the crew was able to evacuate all 280 passengers from the aircraft. There was no loss of life, though the aircraft was destroyed by the fire.[3]

TWA Flight 843
The wreckage of N11002
Accident
DateJuly 30, 1992
SummaryAborted takeoff due to pilot error and instrument malfunction; Maintenance error[1]
SiteJohn F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, United States
40°37′43.7″N 73°46′18.6″W
Aircraft
Aircraft typeLockheed L-1011 TriStar
OperatorTrans World Airlines
IATA flight No.TW843
ICAO flight No.TWA843
Call signTWA 843
RegistrationN11002[2]
Flight originJohn F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, United States
DestinationSan Francisco Airport, San Francisco, California, United States
Occupants292
Passengers280
Crew12
Fatalities0
Injuries10
Survivors292

Aircraft and crew

Aircraft
N11002, the aircraft involved, seen at Los Angeles International Airport in January 1981.

The aircraft involved was a 20-year-old Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 1 that had first flown in 1972. It had been leased to Eastern Air Lines, Five Star Airlines, and American Trans Air. The aircraft was powered by three Rolls-Royce RB211-22B turbofan engines.[1]:11,74[3][4]

Previous incident

N11002 had previously been involved in another incident. Flying as TWA Flight 37 on November 26, 1975, it came to within 100 feet of colliding with a DC-10 flying as American Airlines Flight 182 while cruising at 35,000 feet due to erroneous assumptions of a Cleveland ARTCC controller who thought N11002 had ascended to its assigned altitude of 37,000 feet. The quick actions of the Captain flying the DC-10 prevented the collision as he put the plane into a sharp dive injuring passengers and flight attendants who were serving dinner. The flight crew of N11002 were unaware of the proximity of the 2 planes until they were told on arrival at LAX. There were a combined 309 passengers and crew aboard both flights.[5]

Crew

The captain was 54-year-old William Shelby Kinkead, a veteran TWA pilot who had been with the airline since 1965 and had 20,149 flight hours, including 2,397 hours on the L-1011 TriStar. The first officer was 53-year-old Dennis William Hergert, another veteran TWA pilot who had joined the airline in 1967 and had 15,242 flight hours with 5,183 of them on the L-1011 TriStar; 2,953 of which were as a first officer and 2,230 as a flight engineer. The flight engineer was 34-year-old Charles Edward Long, a former U.S. Air Force pilot who join TWA in 1988. He was the least experienced member of the flight crew but still had sufficient flight experience, having clocked up a total of 3,922 flight hours, 2,266 of which were on the L-1011 TriStar.[1]:9–11,72–73

Accident

At 17:16:12 EST, Flight 843 pushed back from the gate at JFK and taxied to runway 13R. The flight was cleared for takeoff at 17:40:10 with first officer Hergert as the pilot flying. The aircraft reached V1 (the speed at which takeoff can no longer be aborted) and VR (rotation speed) at 17:40:58 and 17:41:03, respectively. The first abnormality was indicated at 17:41:11 when the stick shaker activated. First officer Hergert said, "Gettin' a stall. You got it," transferring control of the aircraft back to captain Kinkead, who aborted the takeoff even though the aircraft had already reached V1; this violated standard operating procedures.[6] The aircraft gained only 16 feet (4.9 m) in altitude and touched down hard onto the runway. Air traffic control (ATC) warned Flight 843 of "numerous flames" coming from the engines. The flight crew activated the thrust reversers and applied maximum braking, only for the aircraft to continue rolling towards a blast fence at the end of the runway. Captain Kinkead turned the now-burning aircraft to the left and it went off the runway, finally stopping on an area of grass 296 feet (90 m) from runway 13R.[1]:1–9

In addition to the nine flight attendants on board, there were five additional off-duty flight attendants who assisted in the evacuation. Although only three of eight exit doors were available for use, the evacuation was completed within two minutes, and the airport rescue and fire fighting teams response was timely and adequate.[1]

Oakland rapper Saafir was a passenger on the plane and injured his back while jumping to the ground.[7]

Investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) attributed the crash to pilot error and TWA training and maintenance issues.[1] According to the report, the take-off was improperly aborted by the first officer shortly after liftoff, due to the erroneous activation of the stick shaker stall warning device, when in fact the aircraft was performing normally and could have taken off safely. The extremely hard landing caused damage to the right wing, spilling fuel that was then ingested into the engines and started the fire.[1] The NTSB praised captain Kinkead for bringing the aircraft to a safe stop, the rest of the crew (including the off-duty flight attendants) for safely evacuating the aircraft, and the airport rescue and fire fighting services for responding in a timely and adequate manner. However, the NTSB also criticized the flight crew for deciding to abort the takeoff after V1 and their response to the stick-shaker activation, both of which were inappropriate.[1]:53–58

See also

References
  1. "Aircraft Accident Report, Aborted Takeoff Shortly After Liftoff, Trans World Airlines Flight 843, Lockheed L-1011, N11002, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica, New York, July 30, 1992" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. March 31, 1993. NTSB/AAR-93/04.
  2. "FAA Registry (N11002)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  3. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1 N11002 New York-John F. Kennedy International Airport, NY (JFK)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  4. "Registration Details For N11002 (Trans World Airlines (TWA)) L-1011 Tristar-1". www.planelogger.com. PlaneLogger. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  5. "Aircraft Accident Report, Near Midair Collision, American Airlines, Inc., Douglas DC-10, N124, and Trans-World Airlines, Inc., Lockheed-1011, N11002, Near Carleton, Michigan, November 26, 1975" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. January 28, 1976. NTSB/AAR-76/03. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  6. "Official Quotes Pilot on Aborted Takeoff". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. August 1, 1992. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  7. D, Davy. "Shock G of Digital Underground Explains Why Saafir is Bound to a Wheelchair". Word Press.
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