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In 1990, three years after a plane crashed in Dorchester, another plane crashed in Mattapan
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Always wondered how 2 people can just go missing
I remember the January 1982 crash and always found it amazing that they never found the other two passengers.
A recent podcast remembering
A recent podcast remembering World Airways Flight 30.
I remember the crash as well
For awhile, they closed the Callahan Tunnel to traffic to allow all the emrgency responders to get over to Logan. Had been over at MIT that afternoon, and decided to take an earlier bus than usual out of Haymarket back to Lynn because of the snow. The driver ended up going through Charlestown and over the Tobin Bridge.
Although it wasn't a plane crash...
The case of Delvonte Tisdale has always perplexed me. I was working in Milton at the time, not far from where he was found. At first, it seemed stranger than fiction, but it really was a sad story:
http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/12/14/m...
Yes
And I remember that at first Boston and Milton cops were treating it as some horrible gang murder because of the condition of his body.
Ever Present Reminder
This is why we have regulations for all these things.
Additional ever present reminder
Most aircraft accidents (both commercial and general aviation) are the result of a chain of events that indvidually may seem minor, but when combined result in tragedy.
With very rare exceptions, the "single failure that brings down a plane" scenario is largely a fiction of Hollywood.
Truth
In another accident context (water-related), I noticed a long time ago that fatal accidents were almost never a case of someone blowing through one red light, figuratively speaking, but more likely rushing through a series of yellows.
I like that
Wery well put.
Swiss cheese model
Of interest, the Swiss cheese model of accidents in complex systems:
Stack up slices of Swiss cheese. Each slice has holes in random places. If enough holes line up and the stack of slices ends up with a hole all the way through, you get an accident
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cheese_model
Minor correction Adam
The Delta crash, Fight 723, happened on July 31, 1973, not March 7, 1974.
And the "questionable instrumentation" issue was a bit more complicated than the report summary implies. It involved the flight director, which indicates the position of the plane relative to the horizon. On ILS approaches, the flight director can be set up to receive guidance information from the ILS system in different ways.
The DC9 in the crash originally belonged to Northeast Airlines, which merged with Delta in late 1972. To standardize the DC9 fleet, Delta replaced the fight directors in ex-Northeast aircraft with the type used in Delta DC9s. Although the different flight directors had similar operation, they were slightly different in their layout and how the crew could change modes. As I recall from the NTSB report **, the Northeast instruments did not have positive indents for each setting, and you could only turn the setting knob clockwise. The Delta instruments had positive indents for the settings, and you could turn the knob either way to change settings.
The flight crew that day were both ex-Northeast pilots. The NTSB believed that, in the confusion of attempting to continue the approach in the prevailing conditions, and not being entirely familiar with the newer flight director, the pilot inadvertently chose the wrong setting and then, in an attempt to correct the setting, moved the selection knob fully clockwise. This created enough of a delay that they weren't able to take corrective action once they realized the true situation.
For me, the crash of Delta Flight 732 will always be one of those "Do you remember where you were when ..." moments. I was playing with my friends on their back porch when their mother stuck her head out the kitchen window and said "Hey, there's been a plane crash at Logan." We went inside and spent most of the rest of the afternoon watching the coverage on TV.
** The full NTSB report is not available online. However, the report is heavily quoted in the September/October 2002 issue of Airliners magazine, which had features both on the Delta Flight 723 crash and Logan AIrport itself.
Fixed, thanks!
The date I gave was the date the NTSB report was released.
No biggie
I thought that was the case, but - as I mentioned - I couldn't look up the NTSB report to verify when it was issued.
One more
Saturday, October 2, 1954
A Lockheed F-94 Starfire crashed shortly after takeoff from Logan Int Airport, at which time also was the base of operations for the 101st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, when participating an actual air alert scramble. The pilot nosed-dived the plane into the beach embankment in order to avoid slamming into occupied houses in the East Boston neighborhood. The plane was carrying a full load of aviation fuel and .50 caliber ammunition which exploded on impact.
2nd Alarm Box 6264 - 130 Bayswater Road & 30 Shawsheen Road, East Boston District 1 at 12:33 hrs
The memorial stone on Bayswater Street bears this inscription:
First Lt. James O. Conway Pilot, Air National Guard, 101st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 2 October 1954. First Lieutenant James O. Conway gave his life to protect the Bayswater Street neighborhood. Lt. Conway remained at the controls of his disabled aircraft rather than abandon his plane and risk the lives of others. His heroism, courage and personal sacrifice reflect the highest credit upon himself and the Massachusetts Air National Guard.