|
| Title: | Descent and crash into Everglades, Eastern Air Lines, Inc., L-1011, N310EA, Miami, Florida, December 29, 1972 |
| Micro summary: | This Lockheed L-1011 gradually descended into the Everglades while diagnosing a gear problem. |
| Event Time: | 1972-12-29 at 2342 EST |
| File Name: | 1972-12-29-US.pdf |
| Publishing Agency: | National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) |
| Publishing Country: | USA |
| Report number: | NTSB-AAR-73-14 |
| Pages: | 51 |
| Site of event: | 18.7 miles west-northwest of MIA |
| Latitude/Longitude: | N25°52' W080°36' |
| Departure: | John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica, New York, USA |
| Destination: | Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, USA |
| Airplane Type(s): | Lockheed L-1011 |
| Flight Phase: | Approach |
| Registration(s): | N310EA |
| Operator(s): | Eastern Air Lines |
| Type of flight: | Revenue |
| Occupants: | 176 |
| Fatalities: | 101 |
| Serious Injuries: | 75 |
| Minor/Non-Injured: | 0 |
| Other Injuries: | 0 |
| Executive Summary: | An Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-1011 crashed at 2342 eastern standard time, December 29, 1972, approximately 18 miles west-northwest of Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida. The aircraft was destroyed. There were 163 passengers and a crew of 13 aboard the aircraft; 94 passengers and 5 crewmembers received fatal injuries. All other occupants received injuries which ranged in severity from minor to critical. The flight diverted from its approach to Miami International Airport because the nose landing gear position indicating system of the aircraft did not indicate that the nose gear was locked in the down position. The aircraft climbed to 2,000 feet mean sea level and followed a clearance to proceed west from the airport at that altitude. During this time, the crew attempted to correct the malfunction and to determine whether or not the nose landing gear was extended. The aircraft crashed into the Everglades shortly after being cleared by Miami Approach Control for a left turn back to Miami International Airport. Surviving passengers and crewmembers stated that the flight was routine and operated normally before impact with the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the flight crew to monitor the flight instruments during the final 4 minutes of flight, and to detect an unexpected descent soon enough to prevent impact with the ground. Preoccupation with a malfunction of the nose landing gear position indicating system distracted the crew's attention from the instruments and allowed the descent to go unnoticed. |
| Learning Keywords: | Operations - Crew Resource Management |
| Operations - Controlled Flight Into Terrain | |
| Operations - Task Saturation | |
| Systems - Landing Gear | |
| Consequence - Hull Loss |
Accident Reports on DVD, Copyright © 2006 by Flight Simulation Systems, LLC. All Rights Reserved. All referenced trademarks are the property of their respective owners.www.fss.aero