He stated that he disliked DC-10 aircrafts and wished to never fly on one again unless totally necessary. It's>going>> to be a few weeks until the NTSB sends me a copy of the final report, if>> they can find it. Survivors reported that large pieces of the building continued to fall onto the wreckage of the aircraft several minutes after the crash as rescuers arrived on the scene. touched down on the dirt on the left of the edge of Runway 23 Left, which was closed to traffic. But the phrase "sidestep" or "sidestep approach" common aviation parlance in the United States was never used by Mexico air traffic controllers to Flight 2605 to describe the approach. I decided long ago that since he did notremember anything, I would not torture him by bringing him into the madnessthat was my world. western airlines flight 2605 passenger listoffice furniture liquidators chicago June 14th, 2022 mazda 3 2021 bose sound system There were 77 passengers and crew members on board. The captain further stated that they were in fact (still) on the approach to 23L, saying "No, this is the approach to the goddamned left". Among the places of residence can be counted 34 in the United States mostly California. Before that time not such manuver was everrecorded in the Jepsen Maunal or anywhere else to any U.S.airline", Sadly, the conditions, bad enough when I first landed there in 1957,continue each year to grow worse, with no end in sight except repeattragedies or halting flying. Since a couple competitors of mine would LOVE to>get their hands on this story, for details you're going to have toread my>report this October on the 20th anniversary of the crash.>>Even if this person's story is complete bull shit. 26 1979 Accidents, No. 1, March 1982, Table 1. NTSB Identification: DCA80RA003, Aircraft: Douglas DC-10. One person on the ground was fatally injured., [11] Sixty-one passengers and 11 crewmembers were fatally injured; 13 passengers and 2 crewmembers were seriously injured; and one person on the ground was fatally injured., [12] Writes 71 of the 88 people on the plane, including 26 Americans were killed. Officials said the poor visibility played no role in the crash, though the airports log showed that at 6 a.m. 16 minutes after the crash there was zero visibility., Witnesses said the plane touched down normally, but then seemed to bounce and veer to the right. Western Airlines officials said 72 of the 88 people on board flight 2605 from Los Angeles and two people on the ground died in the Wednesday crash the fourth fatal DC-10 accident in the last six years. History of the Flight. I knew one of the surviving FAs, Donald (Chip) Richards, before the crash, and I met the other FA survivor, Eddy (Eduardo) Valencia, in the LAX FA lounge after the crash, where he told me his experiences--before, during and after the crash--in great detail. Flight 2605 remains the deadliest air accident to have occurred in Mexico City. Aircraft flying government officials, Helicopters Flight 2605 was on short final to the closed runway at 5:42 AM. A Mexican aviation official said the plane touched down on a runway that was closed for repairs and that it struck a parked truck and killed its driver. Aircraft painted in beautiful and original liveries, Airport Overviews As it touched down, the airplane clipped a loaded dumptruck parked on a closed runway. Eckert, William G. Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Vol. Plot info: Marigold Lawn-Section 21-Lot 4663-Grave 1-Entrance Gate 1. 2605 I participated in an indepth investigation by ABC News 20/20 along with retired WAL Captain Ralph Baxter. Beautiful shots taken while the sun is below the horizon, Accidents [13] Notes 11 crew deaths and 2 crew minor/no injuries; 61 passenger fatalities, 13 serious injured and 2 with minor/no injuries. However, the controllers did not use any phrases indicative of a sidestep maneuver that would have been familiar to American pilots. The rest were identified by nationality. He remembers nothing. Survivors reported that large pieces of the building continued to fall onto the wreckage of the aircraft several minutes after the crash, as rescuers arrived on the scene. I couldnt see the ground. Confusion Over Runways Caused DC-10 Crash. Pharos-Tribune, 11-1-1979, p.21. Washington, DC: NTSB, 8-18-1982. Props and jets from the good old days, Flight Decks Emergency Medical Kits are essential to saving airline passengers, but We know that one flight 2605 survivor died on Nov 18. 28 Nov 1979: Air New Zealand: 901: Failure to comply with the aircraft's operating procedures during the approach phase, and landing on a runway closed to traffic. DC-10 Crashes in Mexico City. The Register, Orange County, CA, 10-31-1979, p. 11-1-1979, A12.[14]. OT apparently meaning other shows 0 under all three Injuries columns for F (fatal), S (serious) and M/N (minor/no injuries). The end of the right wing eventually struck the corner of an aircraft repair hangar, causing damage to the hangar and also fracturing the DC-10's right wing. Mexico City International Airport was forced to close to flights temporarily, and 2,000 people were reported to have traveled to the airport to view the crash site and wreckage on Friday, November 2. Inside the plane there was a lot of fire and a lot of dead people. Rose Hills Memorial Park. Safety Recommendation(s) A-82-91 through -93. Would be useful if we could read the transcrips before the top,of descent; was there an approach briefing that mentioned a sidestep/circle maneuver to 23R? Every type from fighters to helicopters from air forces around the globe, Classic Airliners About 0541 Mexican Central Time Western Airlines DC-10 Flight 2605 was making an approach to the airport in reported VFR conditions when it touched down on the dirt on the left of the edge of Runway 23 Left, which was closed to traffic. Charles Gilbert, a 30-year veteran who also died in the crash. This is a challenging airport and approach in vmc conditions. The aircraft did not enter the runway until it had travelled some 100 m According to the flight recorder data and the wheel traces at the site of the accident, the crew re-applied power for the go-around procedure and lifted the aircraft nose by 10-11. On October 31, 1979, the flight departed Los Angeles International Airport at 1:40 a.m. PST (UTC08:00), and was scheduled to land well before sunrise in Mexico City. [3] The recommendations required explicit published runway-approach procedures for airport approaches involving sidesteps and distribution of documentation of sidestep-approach procedures in general. The aircraft was destroyed. Although the aircraft was cleared for a Tepexpan arrival and was advised that the landing runway was 23R, the crew continued the approach to runway 23L, which had been closed for repairs. Western Airlines Flight 2605 was a red-eye flight. She stopped him in the middle of the cabin and said, "Don't you feel it? Western Airlines: 2605: Charlie,Charlie get it up. 101-109.). Photos taken by airborne photographers of airborne aircraft, Special Paint Schemes This could have had the exact same outcome even without hitting ground equipment. Washington, DC: NTSB, 7-14-1980, revised 8-21-1980. Three seconds before the collision with the truck the engine throttles were opened. Eddy told me at that time that the Mexicans who were working on the ground ran after the crash occurred and didn't return to help. The cabin crew consisted of Flight Attendants Kathleen Miller, Rob Pond, Don Richards, Larry Roundtree, Sharon Smith, Teresa Sugano-Haley, Regina Tovar, and Eduardo Valencia. The plane entered afog bank at about 800' and began to deviate left of the ILS track.The plane actually touched down in the grass to the left of 23L andentered the runway shortly thereafter. 28 U.S. deaths. I decided long ago that since he did not>remember anything, I would not torture him by bringing him into the madness>that was my world. The collision with the truck, which was loaded with 10 tonnes of earth, removed the right landing gear leg with part or sections of the main gear beam to which it is attached, bursting three of the four tires. Before that time not such manuver was ever recorded in theJepsen Maunal or anywhere else to any U.S. airline.". The impact with the dump truck destroyed the right engine and took off a major portion of the right stabilizer. The event is the third-deadliest aviation accident on Mexican soil after the crashes of two Boeing 727s: the 1969 crash of Mexicana de Aviacin Flight 704 and that of Mexicana de Aviacin Flight 940 in 1986. It then impacted anEastern Airlinesservice buildingnorth of both runways, 26 seconds after it initially touched down. Western Airlines Flight 2605 Crash With CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) This turned out more informative than I would have imagined. The site is '10 years old by now and contains info on the background of the cockpit crew and cabin staff: A very interesting thread which has sparked memories as I was working for Mexicana at, WA 2605, A 35 AOS DEL PEOR ACCIDENTE AREO EN LA CIUDAD DE MXICO, http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histoern-airlines-2605-information.html, http://books.google.com/books?id=8BVg=PP1&pg=PA100#v=onepage&q&f=false, http://www.reocities.com/tresbros/blackbox.html. Most of the right main gear separated from the aircraft and struck the right horizontal stabilizer. 40th anniversary of Western 2605 - Airliners.net On October 31, 1979, at 5:42 a.m. the flight. Just afterbecoming airborne, the DC-10 then collided with a ground vehicle - alarge dump truck, IIRC - that was being driven along the runway. Flight 2605 was piloted by Captain Charles Gilbert (53), First Officer Ernst Reichel (46) and Flight Engineer Daniel Walsh (39). The captain realized this, saying "No, this is the approach to the goddamned left." Western Airlines Flight 2605, nicknamed the "Night Owl", was an international scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles, California to Mexico City, Mexico. Western Airlines Flight 2605 was an international scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City. Here's a scan of an article from Flying Magazine, the occasion being ALPA investigation into this crash (article begins on page 100, also at one point it breaks and continues after several pages of classified ads): Just as a point of interest, C Gilbert the Capt had was a Marine in the Pacific during WWll. [18] The investigation revealed that both pilots knew that runway 23L was closed and that each had landed aircraft at the airport while the runway was closed. Accessed 10-7-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/kansas/hutchinson/hutchinson-news/1979/12-15?tag, United Press International, Mexico City. Nov 1, UPI: Mexico City (UPI) Confusion over two parallel runways sent 74 people to their deaths in the fiery crash of a Western Airlines DC-10 at the fog-shrouded Mexico City airport. I can't attest to his written accounts regarding the crash (in July 2018, he released a new book about the crash called "Jumpseat, A Tale of Twisted Fate," which I have not read. Mexico City International Airport has two runways: Runway 23 Left (23L), and Runway 23 Right (23R). Before today, I've only seen one black and white picture from above of what remained of the crushed DC-10. The controller also points out that the>aircraft is left of the assigned runway, which the crew merely>acknowledges but does not explain or say that it will correct. He did tell me that at least one of the FAs who died had a premonition during the flight that something was wrong. As many as 30 people were injured, including those on the ground injured by flying debris. >The controller several times refers to "23 right" but the crew never>reads back "23 right." Thirty people were injured some of them on the ground, including ground personnel and neighborhood residents hit by debris. The aircraft involved was a wide-body McDonnell Douglas DC-10, registered N903WA. I liked and trusted each of them very much. This page was last updated at 2023-04-29 03:53 UTC. Investigators probe DC-10 crash site. The Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, IL, 11-2-1979, p. 2-7. The investigation found that the crew had not complied with theestablished procedure for the side-step approach, which mandated amissed approach if the runway could not be seen from an altitude of600' AGL. Weather conditions were deteriorating during Flight 2605's instrument approach. Thirty days, After thecrash, the FAA went to Mexico and along side La Officina De NavagacionEspacio Mexicana, developed a side step manuver for U.S. pilots into BenitoJuarez Airport. The official report reads: "As shown by the flight recorder trace, the aircraft stayed on the correct flight path to Runway 23 Right for most of the time between the outer marker "Metro Eco" and Mexico City International Airport, and only deviated to the runway closed to traffic (23 Left) when at a height of (600 feet) above the ground during its final approach.". One second later, the crew tried to abort the landing and applied go-around power. It's so thick you could cut it with a knife." I was trying to help. Navigation error blamed in Antarctic crash. Lawrence Journal-World, 11-29-79, p2.[5]. Thanks for sharing that link. The controller several times refers to "23 right" but the crew neverreads back "23 right." Western Airlines Flight 2605 - INFOGALACTIC Accessed 10-6-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/logansport/logansport-pharos-tribune/1979/11-01/page-21?tag, Wikipedia. Pilots have been criticized for misinterpreting approach charts and approach procedures, with little consideration given to the operating environment in which the procedures and charts are used and the degree to which these procedures and charts themselves may be conducive to error. [8] Fatality number refers to 73 passenger and crew deaths and the driver of the dump truck, while noting There were an undisclosed number of casualties among ground personnel, including, needless to say, the driver of thetruck. Editorial at the end notes: This article is based on the Air Line Pilots Associations [ALPA] report of the accident and is intended to bring the issues raised by that report to the attention of our readers. Thus a pilot point of view is being brought to an understanding of this accident. View original page. The bank angle increased until the right wing flap struck the cab of an excavator 1,500 meters from the runway threshold. SimplePlanes | DC-10 Western Airlines Then at a speed of 130 knots the aircraft's main landing gear touched down, left gear on the grass left of runway 23L and right gear on the runway shoulder, producing a force greater than 2 g's. Western Airlines - Wikipedia Weird crash - the pilot-not-flying didn't make any radalt callouts (200 above touchdown, 100, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 is normal) or 'decision height'. It is more accurate to say they descended in a complete daze with no situational awareness let alone radalt callouts, and happened to impact the ground near (but not really on) the closed runway. The data obtained from the aircrafts flight recorder shows that the crew was making an instrument approach. Western Airlines Flight 2605 was an international scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles, California, to Mexico City, Mexico. Their conclusion? What did those with a vested interest have to hide? It seemed odd to him at the time, so he remembered saying jokingly, "Who am I, Dear Abby?" The aircraft first flew in 1973 and in six years had logged a total of 24,614 flight hours. Western Airlines Flight 2605, nicknamed the "Night Owl", [2] was an international scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles, California, to Mexico City, Mexico. [10] Of the 76 passengers and 13 crewmembers aboard [89], 61 passengers and 11 crewmembers were fatally injured [72], and 13 passengers and 2 crewmembers were seriously injured [15; 72+15=87]. Last words - Plane Crash Info But then again, as we have seen in the TWA800 debate, some people will believe anything. On October 31, 1979, at 5:42 a.m. the flight crashed at Mexico City International Airport in fog, after landing on a runway closed for maintenance. On October 31, 1979, at 5:42 a.m. CST (UTC06:00), the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating the flight crashed at Mexico City International Airport in fog after landing on a runway that was closed for maintenance. He was on this flight to investigate the El Salvadoran civil war. _____________________________________Steve KroplaKingwood, Texas USATo e-mail, replace "firstname" and "lastname" with real namesHelp for World Travelers: http://kropla.com, >Dan,>IIRC, parallel runways One was closed for maint..>Low ceiling Low Vsby>Forget which runway the approach was aligned..(23L)>Aircraft broke out and landed (23R)..>Don't recall much more Old man, short memory. 74 Die in a DC10 Crash in Mexico As Pilot Lands on Closed Runway; 74 Not much as been documented about this accident. Nor did I read his previous book). It was painted with Western Airlines's "DC-10 Spaceship" livery. Accessed from Index for October 1979 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=34511&key=0, National Transportation Safety Board. Of the 17 surviving passengers, 15 were injured. The accident and subsequent investigation prompted the release of NTSB Safety Recommendations A-80-59 and A-80-60. In continuing toward 23L below that height, by definition the crew was deviating from their cleared approach. The transcription of the magnetic tape which contains the communications between the control tower operator and the crew of aircraft N-903WA reveals that at one point the control tower operator asked the pilot whether he could see the approach lights on his left, to which the pilot replied negative. [18] Footnote 1 in original: A visual alignment maneuver required of a pilot executing an approach to one runway while cleared to land on a parallel runway., [20] A visual maneuver accomplished by a pilot at the completion of an instrument approach to permit a straight-in landing on a parallel runway that is separated by 1200 ft or less.Pilots are expected to commence the maneuver as soon as possible after the runway, or runway environment, is in sight. (The Free Dictionary.). Accessed 10-5-2016 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19791031-0. Aircraft Accident Digest No. Audio recording of Western Airlines Flight 2605 CVR. And when confronted with your previoussummary of how 2605 crashed he said, "concerning the statement, it is one of many mis-information statementsreleased by "the powers that be," to continue the cover-up. Passenger cabin shots showing seat arrangements as well as cargo aircraft interior, Cargo Aircraft I believed he was in shock after the crash, and though his first thought was to open a door and rescue others, he clearly was unable to do so due to his injuries. The October 31, 1979 flight left Los Angeles International Airport at 1:40 AM PST, and was scheduled to land well before sunrise in Mexico City. Aftermath and voice recording of Western Airlines Flight 2605 - Reddit Aviation accidents and incidents in Mexico, International Civil Aviation Organization, Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740, Airliner accidents and incidents involving fog, Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, Airliner accidents and incidents involving ground collisions, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Crashed into construction equipment during landing on a closed runway, 3 passengers in intensive care at American British Cowdray Hospital, 9 passengers in satisfactory condition at American British Cowdray Hospital, 5 passengers already released from other hospitals after first-aid treatment. Officials said the black box flight recording was recovered and a transcript of the final conversation with the control tower was released late Wednesday by Mexican Televisions channel 2. the white-and-red jetlinercarried 75 passengers and 13 crewmen. Approximately 3.3 seconds after the touchdown and in a 10-11-degree nose-up attitude, the right main gear collided with a dump truck loaded with 10 tons of earth. The right main gear then collided with a truck located on the runway. Also notes: Two others, the truck driver and a night watchman died on the ground.. NTSB Safety Recommendation(s) A-82-91 through -93: .On October 31, 1979, a Western Airlines, Inc., DC-10-10, crashed while making an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to the Mexico City International Airport. From Airsafe.com:31 October 1979; Western Airlines DC10-10; Mexico City, Mexico: Thecrew inadvertently landed on a closed runway parallel to the activerunway. Before that time not such manuver was ever recorded in the>Jepsen Maunal or anywhere else to any U.S. airline.">. AIRLINE: FLIGHT : 07 Jul 1962: Alitalia: 771: Unable to make out your last message, will you please repeat : 07 May 1964: Pacific Air Lines: 773: Skipper's shot! PDF Fichier PDF - baaa-acro.com The damaged aircraft, still airborne with takeoff thrust engaged, began to bank to the right. 3.). The instrument landing procedure authorized in the aeronautical information publication (AIP) for Runway 23 Left with transition to 23 Right specifies that if the pilot does not have the runway in sight at 600 ft during an instrument landing approach, he must break off the approach and climb to 8,500 ft. He seemed to me then to be suspicious of their actions. NTSB writes that there was one. The F/O was a former Luftwaffe pilot from Germany and the S/O was former US. Seventy-two persons on board the aircraft and one person on the ground were killed in the accident. I was riding shotgun in a Bonanza>several years ago, and we did one at Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma>City - we used the ILS for 17L right down to about 1/2 mile out, then>split off and landed on 17R. The probable cause of the accident was determined as: "Non-compliance with the meteorological minima for the approach procedure, as cleared; failure to comply with the aircraft's operating procedures during the approach phase, and landing on a runway closed to traffic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrm0YVEBE7USubscribe for new videos from @THINKcn : https://www.youtube.com/c/THINKcn/videos@THINKcn Thanks for the link! This meant that the flight was to follow the instrument landing system's glide path toward Runway 23L, and, as soon as they sighted Runway 23R through the cockpit window, they would reorient their aircraft to land on it instead. 21. Reply 25th Jan 2014, 08:03 # 8 ( permalink) Newforest2 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Posts: 552 Likes: 0 Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts Airport 34 U.S. of 73, 2023 March 24, tornado/severe storms, MS/25 & AL/1, especially Rolling Fork, MS 26, 2023 Jan 23, workplace shootings, mushroom farm & trucking facility, Half Moon Bay, CA7, 2023 Jan 21, Lunar New Year mass shooting, Dance Studio, Monterey Park, LA Co., CA 11, 2023 Jan 1-14, CA winter weather, storms, heavy rain, levees breech, trees down, CA 19, 2022 Dec 19-26, snowstorms/cold, deaths in 20 States and Canada, esp. This guy writes like, I'm not revealing his name, but he is *alledgedly* one of the two surviving, The flight was cleared on a 'circle to land' approach, by using the ILS on the, On Mon, 3 May 1999 17:35:49 -0400, "John Mazor" <, Well KRC, this person (who calls himself Eduardo Valenciana, BTW) is making, I got all the e-mails saved, so anyone e-mail if ya want me to forward them, On Wed, 5 May 1999 19:18:17 -0500, "Dan Rupp". I closed my eyes and I tried to stay in my place. What Happened to Flight 2605?" The airport was quite dark, as twilight had only started 5 minutes before the crash, and there was ground fog obscuring the runway. The aircraft touched down with the left main gear in the grass left of 23L and with the right main gear on the runway shoulder. Western Airlines Flight 2605, nicknamed the "Night Owl", was an international scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles, California, to Mexico City, Mexico.On October 31, 1979, at 5:42 a.m. CST, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating the flight crashed at Mexico City International Airport in fog after landing on a runway that was closed for maintenance. Western Airlines Flight 2605, nicknamed the "Night Owl", was an international scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles, California, to Mexico City, Mexico.