Everyday millions of people fly on airplanes. It is an easy and fast way of traveling for work, vacations or to see family members. “August 1985 witnessed more passenger and crew deaths on commercial airlines than any other month.” (Kelly) The reasons airplanes crash vary and can happen during takeoff, landing or during flight. The tragic crash of Delta Flight 191 marked a change in aviation and made flying safer today.
On August 2, 1985, Delta Flight 191 was making a routine trip from Fort Lauderdale, to Los Angeles with a layover in Dallas. The Lockheed L-1011, only six years old, was piloted by Captain Edward Conner [Conner], Second Officer Nick Nassick and First Officer Rudolph Price [Price]. With 152 passengers and a crew of 11 …show more content…
Price first notices trouble at 800 feet with increasing wind shear and mentions to Connor he saw lightening in the clouds ahead of them. Unfortunately, the airplane lacked the technology to detect microbursts and was only able to detect thunderstorms. The aircraft was approaching a microburst. A microburst “occurs when a relatively cold parcel of air experiences negative buoyancy while sinking through a relatively warm environment. The "wet" microburst is accompanied by shafts of strong precipitation reaching the ground.” ("History of Flight …show more content…
Microbursts are not as generally known as tornadoes, but some cases can cause worse damage than tornadoes. In fact, wind shear speeds have been known to be as strong as 150 mph in extreme cases. In 1985, wind shear speeds were recognized by pilots, but they had limited training in microbursts. As Flight 191 enters the severe weather, the crew anticipates the loss of performance and push the trust levers to 133 knots. Despite the airplanes 160,000 pounds of thrust, the aircraft still slowed to 119 knots and rapidly descended. “Only a massive reserve of excess thrust will get you out of severe wind shear and sometimes that’s not enough.” (Flannigan).
This strong microburst caused the flight to lose lift. Price pushed the throttles forward attempting to give the aircraft a temporary lift but despite the pilots’ best efforts, a maximum tailwind was experienced near the ground. At full power, Flight 191 struggled to flew through the microburst, unable to accelerate with a downdraft hitting the tail of the
On August 2, 1985, Delta Flight 191 was making a routine trip from Fort Lauderdale, to Los Angeles with a layover in Dallas. The Lockheed L-1011, only six years old, was piloted by Captain Edward Conner [Conner], Second Officer Nick Nassick and First Officer Rudolph Price [Price]. With 152 passengers and a crew of 11 …show more content…
Price first notices trouble at 800 feet with increasing wind shear and mentions to Connor he saw lightening in the clouds ahead of them. Unfortunately, the airplane lacked the technology to detect microbursts and was only able to detect thunderstorms. The aircraft was approaching a microburst. A microburst “occurs when a relatively cold parcel of air experiences negative buoyancy while sinking through a relatively warm environment. The "wet" microburst is accompanied by shafts of strong precipitation reaching the ground.” ("History of Flight …show more content…
Microbursts are not as generally known as tornadoes, but some cases can cause worse damage than tornadoes. In fact, wind shear speeds have been known to be as strong as 150 mph in extreme cases. In 1985, wind shear speeds were recognized by pilots, but they had limited training in microbursts. As Flight 191 enters the severe weather, the crew anticipates the loss of performance and push the trust levers to 133 knots. Despite the airplanes 160,000 pounds of thrust, the aircraft still slowed to 119 knots and rapidly descended. “Only a massive reserve of excess thrust will get you out of severe wind shear and sometimes that’s not enough.” (Flannigan).
This strong microburst caused the flight to lose lift. Price pushed the throttles forward attempting to give the aircraft a temporary lift but despite the pilots’ best efforts, a maximum tailwind was experienced near the ground. At full power, Flight 191 struggled to flew through the microburst, unable to accelerate with a downdraft hitting the tail of the