Comair Flight 3272 was a Comair flight from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

on Thursday, January 9, 1997. While on approach for landing, the

Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series ...

aircraft crashed nose-down southwest of

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport , usually called Detroit Metro Airport, Metro Airport, or simply DTW, is a major international airport in the United States covering effective December 30, 2021. in Romulus, Michigan. It is the primary ...

at 15:54 EST. All 29 aboard, 26 passengers and three crew members, were killed. The cause of the crash was determined to be inadequate and out of date flight crew procedures for

icing conditions In aviation, icing conditions are atmospheric conditions that can lead to the formation of water ice on an aircraft. Ice accretion and accumulation can affect the external surfaces of an aircraft – in which case it is referred to as ''airframe ...

. Some of these originated with the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

's failure to specify suitable minimum airspeeds for icing conditions, while some were Comair procedure manual defects, including superseded instructions on the use of de-icing boots that did not follow the aircraft manufacturer's instructions.

Passengers and crew

There were 26 passengers on board the Embraer 120, registered as N265CA. There were two crew members in the cockpit and a flight attendant in the cabin. The captain was Dann Carlsen, age 42, who was the pilot monitoring (PM). He had 5,329 flight hours, including 1,097 hours on the EMB-120. The first officer was Kenneth Reece, age 29, who was the Pilot Flying (PF) on Flight 3272. Reece had 2,582 flight hours, with 1,494 of them on the EMB-120.

Accident

Flight 3272 took off from

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is a public international airport located in Hebron, Kentucky, United States. It serves the Cincinnati tri-state area. The airport's code, CVG, is derived from the nearest city at the time of ...

at 14:53. Less than an hour later, the pilots began the approach to

. The air traffic controller instructed the pilots to descend to and turn right on a heading of 180 degrees. About 45 seconds later, the pilots were instructed to turn left onto a heading of 090 degrees to intercept the localizer. During the turn, Captain Carlsen made the statement "Yeah, looks like your low speed indicator," and asked First Officer Reece for increased power to the engines. Almost immediately, the aircraft abruptly stalled. It violently rolled 145 degrees to the left, to the right, and back to the left again. The pilots lost control, and Flight 3272 crashed into a rural field in Raisinville Township in killing all 29 aboard.

Aftermath

The

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

very quickly has noticed similarities between this accident and

American Eagle Flight 4184 American Eagle Flight 4184, officially operating as Simmons Airlines Flight 4184, was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Indianapolis, Indiana to Chicago, Illinois, United States. On , 1994, the performing this route flew into severe ...

. The

NTSB The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

determined that the probable cause was inadequate standards for icing operations while in flight, specifically the failure of the Federal Aviation Administration to establish adequate minimum

airspeed In aviation, airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air. Among the common conventions for qualifying airspeed are: * Indicated airspeed ("IAS"), what is read on an airspeed gauge connected to a Pitot-static system; * Calibrated a ...

s for icing conditions, leading to a loss of control when the airplane accumulated a thin, rough accretion of ice on its lifting surfaces. A contributing factor was the crew's decision to operate in icing conditions while near the lower end of the

flight envelope In aerodynamics, the flight envelope, service envelope, or performance envelope of an aircraft or spacecraft refers to the capabilities of a design in terms of airspeed and load factor or atmospheric density, often simplified to altitude. The t ...

while the flaps were retracted. Comair had not established unambiguous minimum airspeed values for flap configurations and for flight in icing conditions. They also, against recommendation of the plane's manufacturer, failed to activate the

deicing boot A deicing boot is a type of ice protection system installed on aircraft surfaces to permit a mechanical deicing in flight. Such boots are generally installed on the leading edges of wings and control surfaces (e.g. horizontal and vertical sta ...

s on the wings. This was because the Comair Flight manual recommendation was in contravention of the manufacturers due to a concern over "ice bridging", a concern held over from older planes that was no longer valid on newer generation planes like the Embraer 120. As the plane crash site is on private property, a memorial was built at the Roselawn Memorial Park in

La Salle, Michigan LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

, where unidentified remains of those killed in the crash are buried.

Dramatization

The investigation into the crash was covered in "Deadly Myth", a 2017 episode of ''Mayday'', a Canadian television series about air crashes.

References

External links

*
NTSB Aircraft Accident Safety ReportAppendix CAppendix DAppendix EAppendix FAppendix GAppendix HAppendix INTSB investigation docket

- ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, alth ...

'' (Listing of passengers on the flights) {{Portal bar, Aviation, Michigan, 1990s Airliner accidents and incidents in Michigan Airliner accidents and incidents caused by ice 1997 in Michigan 3272 Disasters in Michigan Accidents and incidents involving the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia Monroe County, Michigan Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1997 January 1997 events in the United States Airliner accidents and incidents caused by stalls