USAir Flight 1493

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USAir Flight 1493 Facts

Date	February 1, 1991
Location	Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Aircraft	Boeing 737-300 (operated by USAir) & Fairchild Metroliner (operated by SkyWest Airlines)
Fatalities	34 total

Description

On February 1, 1991, a USAir Boeing 737-300 flying from Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) via Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) collided with a Fairchild Metroliner aircraft on landing².

The Metroliner, operated by SkyWest Airlines had taxied onto the active runway to await takeoff clearance, however did not receive it before the USAir aircraft landed¹.

Twenty-two passengers out of eighty-nine aboard the Boeing 737-300, and all twelve passengers on the Metroliner died³.

For a step-by-step analysis of the accident, watch the Mayday episode titled 'Cleared for Disaster' on National Geographic: http://www.natgeotv.com .

USAir Flight 1493 Boeing 737-300 following post-crash fire. Image from Tailstrike.com

Cause

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) attributed the Air Traffic Controller’s loss of situational awareness to be the active error causing the accident. The controller was unable to keep track of aircraft under her control and could not view them on the runway. However this was itself caused by:

- the procedures in place at the Los Angeles International Airport control tower
- ergonomic factors within the control tower:
- how flight progress strips were organised and dealt with
- the positioning of the control tower (rooftop lights from a nearby building caused glare in the tower making it difficult to view the runway)².

References

1. Kilroy, C. (n.d.). Special report: USAir Flight 1493. Retrieved August 24, 2010, from

http://www.airdisaster.com/special/special-us1493.shtml

2. National Transportation Safety Board. (1991). Runway collision of USAir Flight 1493, Boeing 737 and SkyWest Flight 5569 Fairchild Metroliner, Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, February 1, 1991 (Aircraft Accident Report NTSB/AAR-91/08). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

3. Wikipedia. (August 10, 2010). USAir Flight 1493. Retrieved August 24, 2010, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAir_Flight_1493

4. Tailstrike (n.d.). USAir 1493. Retrieved September 9, 2010 from http://www.tailstrike.com/Photos/Usair%201493.JPG

Want to know more?

Watch the Mayday episode titled 'Cleared for Disaster' on National Geographic for a step-by-step analysis of the accident: http://www.natgeotv.com .

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Contributors to this page

Authors / Editors

NZ1

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