American Airlines Flight 625
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American Airlines Flight 625, a
Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter f ...
, crashed at St. Thomas,
U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...
on April 27, 1976, while on a domestic scheduled
passenger flight An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...
originating at
T. F. Green Airport Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport is a public international airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, south of the state's capital and largest city of Providence. Opened in 1931, the airport was named for former Rhode Islan ...
in
Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
and ending at
Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands Saint Thomas ( da, Sankt Thomas) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea which, together with Saint John, Water Island, Hassel Island, and Saint Croix, form a county-equivalent and constituent district of the United States Virgin I ...
, with an intermediate stop at
John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Ne ...
. 37 out of the 88 passengers on board died in the accident.


Accident

The
American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
Boeing 727-23,
registration Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), the ...
overran the departure end of Runway 9 when landing at Harry S. Truman airport. The aircraft struck an
Instrument Landing System In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...
antenna, crashed through a chain link fence, and traveled another until stopped by a gas station. The aircraft was destroyed. The airport in St. Thomas was notorious among pilots for its short ()
runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
. In fact, the Boeing 727 was the heaviest aircraft type authorized to use it, and even then it was only authorized in one direction. Ultimately, the NTSB attributed the crash to
pilot error Pilot error generally refers to an Aviation accidents and incidents, accident in which an action or decision made by the Aircraft pilot#Airline, pilot was the cause or a contributing factor that led to the accident, but also includes the pi ...
on the approach. The maximum
flap Flap may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Flap'' (film), a 1970 American film * Flap, a boss character in the arcade game ''Gaiapolis'' * Flap, a minor character in the film '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland'' Biology and he ...
setting of 40 degrees was never applied, which meant that the aircraft's speed was higher than VREF as it crossed the runway threshold. This, combined with the fact that the aircraft 'floated' from turbulent winds in the area, meant that it was already down the runway at the point of touchdown. The pilots did not brake, and proceeded to apply full throttle three seconds after touchdown in an attempt at a
go-around In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for various reasons, such as an unstab ...
. However, they were unable to reach takeoff speed because the 727's engines are slow-responding, taking about 6.6 seconds to power up. After five seconds of waiting for power, and with only of runway left, the pilot panicked, according to the report, and applied full brakes. Further, the pilot forgot to apply reverse engine thrust until immediately before impact. Ultimately, the aircraft ran off the end of the runway and into a
Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...
gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...
, killing 37 (35 passengers and 2 flight attendants) of the 88 on board. Thirty-eight other passengers and crew were injured, and one person on the ground was seriously injured. The probable cause was the captain's actions and his judgment in not being aware that when he touched down down the runway, he did not have enough distance to perform a
go-around In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for various reasons, such as an unstab ...
. As a result of the crash,
American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
ended all jet flights to St. Thomas, flying instead to
St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorpo ...
(which had a 7,600 foot runway at the time). American Airlines passengers were then flown to St. Thomas in Convair 440
propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
-driven aircraft from St. Croix, with these flights being operated by a wholly owned subsidiary, American Inter-Island Airlines. The Convair 440 aircraft were owned by American Airlines and flown and maintained via contract by Antilles Air Boats, a seaplane operator in the
U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...
. Jet flights operated by American resumed when a new runway at St. Thomas was constructed with a length of .


In popular culture

American Airlines Flight 625 was specifically mentioned in the movie '' Rain Man''.


See also

* Aviation safety * List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft


Notes


References

* United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, CAP479 World Airline Accident Summary Volume 2,


External links

*
NTSB Accident Investigation Report
(PDF file) {{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1976 Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error Airliner accidents and incidents involving runway overruns Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1976 Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 727
625 __NOTOC__ Year 625 ( DCXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 625 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
Airliner accidents and incidents in the United States Virgin Islands 1976 in the United States Virgin Islands April 1976 events in the United States