Captain McKenzie picked up the intercom to inform the flight attendants about the emergency, but he managed only to say, Sandy before Keele interrupted him with even more dire news: My god, he said, the other engines going too, damn!. Why had the pilots flown into a severe thunderstorm? However, in an unfortunate twist of fate, the fax receiver at Southern Airways local office wasnt working when the pilots stopped by to pick up the latest weather reports. Although the pilots were able to achieve a descent which was close to the DC-9s optimal glide distance, this feat was unable to save them. The flight attendants also helped evacuate the passengers from the burning plane after the crash landing. Furthermore, the fact that these conditions would soon occur, and in fact were already occurring, had been publicized by the National Weather Service (NWS) nearly three hours before flight 242 left Huntsville. Since the acquisition, Southern has worked to retain and strengthen the Mokulele brand in the Hawaiian islands and now serves 10 airports in the state. Burning hair will just make me sick at my stomach. Updated Feb 26, 2012 8:57 PM SGT. In principle, the pilots should have known exactly what they were getting into but for some reason, they didnt. But while Captain McKenzies initial desire to land on a field would have been better, the area around New Hope is so heavily forested that it seems unlikely that they could have found one in time. [1]:33 FAA regulations had no such requirement either, because the possibility of complete failure of all engines on a jet-powered carrier aircraft was deemed so remote as to not require training or special procedures; the NTSB could not find a recorded instance prior to Flight 242 of a commercial jet aircraft experiencing such an emergency. Electrical systems started to drop off the line again, including the planes transponder, which broadcasts data about its identity and location. Yeah, this is good, First Officer Keele agreed. The pilots hurriedly configured the plane, searched for the Dobbins approach charts, and asked for the Dobbins weather. The airline launched operations in June 2013, with its first flight from Olive Branch Airport near Memphis, Tennessee, to Destin Executive Airport. Oh shit, McKenzie exclaimed. China Southern Air Holding (50,3 %), - ( H) (26,84 %), ( A) (22,86 %). Contact me via @Admiral_Cloudberg on Reddit, @KyraCloudy on Twitter, or by email at kyracloudy97@gmail.com. It just wasnt there yet., These were the last normal moments in a day that would change her life, leave its mark on an entire community, and send shock waves across and beyond the state. Okay, said McKenzie. He was right there was no turning back now. It is also likely that the pilots believed their engines could be restarted, and were not yet thinking about their optimal glide distance. The Daily Advertiser Boorowa News Cootamundra Herald Eastern Riverina Chronicle Harden Murrumburrah Express Southern Cross The Area . Despite a valiant effort by the crew to land the plane on a portion of road near New Hope, Ga., the plane's wing clipped a gas station during landing, bursting into flames. Southern Airways is committed to bringing reliable, frequent, and affordable air service to all of the cities they serve. One hopes that they may take comfort in a legacy of safer skies. Bud. A man was running across her front yard toward her, frantically waving his arms, his clothing ablaze. A worker searches through the wreckage of a Southern Airways DC-9 that crashed on a highway in New Hope, Ga., on April 4, 1977, killing 63 people aboard and nine on the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the total and unique loss of thrust from both engines while the aircraft was penetrating an area of severe thunderstorms. Some of the most interesting of these lessons had to do with engine behavior in heavy rain, a field which barely existed before the accident. Sadie decided that waiting for help to arrive was futile and that everyone in the house had to get out. Local residents and victims' family have formed the nonprofit New Hope Memorial Flight 242 Inc. to provide "an annual memorial service, survivor's reunion and a monument. For the next 124 seconds, the plane glided downward without power, the decisions of its pilots shrouded in mystery. He said, Honey, weve got some bad weather coming. After two minutes without power, the pilots started the auxiliary power unit, the planes backup generator, and the electrical system surged back to life. The Southern Airways team of airline professionals work hard everyday to ensure that your journey with Southern is a pleasant and hassle-free experience. In its final report, the NTSB explained that at the time, 49 CFR 830.2 required it to only identify persons who died within 7 days of an accident as having "fatal" injuries. I dont know why I did that. - Daily Express - Fact Check and Transparency Report (United Kingdom) . ", "Southern Airways Express Tries to Replace Big Airlines One Small Mississippi Airport at a Time", "Southern Airways extends service in New Bedford, plans to base New England fleet at airport", "Southern Airways Announces Strategic Minority Investment By SkyWest, New Alliance Between the Companies", "Southern Airways to Bring Larger Turboprop Aircraft to Molokai and Lnai | Maui Now", "News for Airlines, Airports and the Aviation Industry | CAPA", "Interview: The Southern Airways Express Saab340 Unveiled AirlineGeeks.com", "Multi-Aero Inc. d/b/a Air Choice One to be Acquired by Southern Airways Corporation", "Tailwind Air Service to launch commuter ops in New York", "American Airlines interline with Southern Airways could benefit El Dorado", "Southern Airways Express FAA Aircraft Registration", "Southern Airways Express Purchases 20 REGENT Seagliders for their U.S. East Coast Operations in $250M Deal", List of defunct airlines of the United States, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_Airways_Express&oldid=1141345831, Companies based in Palm Beach County, Florida, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 16:10. By the time the weather hit Huntsville, we would get [the news] here before it got to the Atlanta radio stations, explained Sadie. Behind him, downed electrical wires snaked around charred bodies. 1. Southern Airwaysofers scheduled airline service between Show Low and Phoenix Sky Harbor seven days a week. Visit Southern Airways Express for more flight info! Instead, the engines were destroyed from within by unchecked surging. As meteorologists monitored the developing situation, the National Weather Service (NWS) began issuing SIGMET (Significant Meteorological Information) warnings in an effort to alert airlines to the danger. "[1]:48. Purl wrote the book Am I Alive? Looks heavy, nothings going through that, said McKenzie. Indeed, history has since taught us that an emergency landing in a field, or even in a forest, will nearly always end better than on a highway. Southern Airways Express offering scheduled regional air service to over twenty cities and spans 5 time zones. QUINCY (WGEM) - The Department of Transportation on Tuesday granted Southern Airways Express, LLC. For those who fly there, life is a constant battle to stay on top of the latest weather developments, as thunderstorms appear and disappear in a matter of minutes, bringing powerful winds and heavy rain to localized areas with little warning. Ive got it, Ive got it. Get those engines [started]! Keele exclaimed. The airport, not being intended for use by large aircraft, was not marked on the pilots charts, and because it lay outside Atlanta Centers area of responsibility, it wasnt on their charts either. Highway 92 still runs through the town, although it now goes by a different name, and new businesses and new homes have sprung up around those which appeared in front page spreads on the morning after the disaster. Southern is the only US Commuter Airline serving America's 5 Busiest Airports! [9] On April 30, 2019, it was announced that SkyWest has a strategic minority investment in the company. She didnt know it at the time, but the crash had cut off water and knocked out electricity to her house and most of her neighbors homes. And I didnt want to stay down in the basement. Instead, they appeared to rely solely on their on-board weather radar to find the path of least resistance. about the experience, and is a motivational speaker. Her first thought was to get away from the plane, which she feared was about to explode. The weather over the Southern United States that afternoon was quickly deteriorating, as it often does during the turbulent months of spring. As the plane descended, it broke out of the storm but now had no engine power. [7] Early destinations included University-Oxford Airport, Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport, New Orleans Lakefront Airport, and Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. Vol Air Florida 90. Hand flying multiple high speed approaches 120 to 140 KTS into class B & C busy airline airports. From his vantage point in the basement, Steve saw the same flames through the windows at the top of the garage door. And he looked me square in the eyes and said, Help me. His voice was [almost] gone, but I could understand what he was saying. And if too much water enters a jet engine, so much energy will be expended to evaporate it that the temperature of the combustion chamber will drop too low for the fuel-air mixture to ignite, causing the engine to flame out. Analyzer of plane crashes. Southern Airways Flight 242 crashed into the Paulding County area known as New Hope. As the badly injured passengers staggered from the wreckage of the DC-9, they made their way into the nearest house: a humble rural home belonging to New Hope resident Sadie Hurst, whose front yard now played host to most of what remained of the plane. Sample Page; ; I can remember seeing these people holding their hands up to the windows, looking in, trying to look for help., As they drew near, Sadie realized the passengers were calling out to her. The boys wanted to help their mother get ready for whatever was on the way, be it a twister or a thunderstorm with lightning. I saw on my right a young man completely engulfed in flames, and he was dropping and rolling, said Sadie. Alarmed and determined to protect her children, Sadie handed Eddie to Steve and told the boys to go to one corner of the basement where the family took shelter in bad weather. The cabin lights went out, the pilots instrument panels went dark, and the flight recorders ceased recording. I knew something was wrong, said Steve. In the center and tail sections, flames from the ruptured fuel tanks penetrated the cabin even before the plane came to a halt, sending a fireball tearing down the aisle atop the passengers heads. 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