TWA Flight 128

Infobox Airliner incident
name=TWA Flight 128
Crash

Date=November 20, 1967
Type=Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)
Site=Constance, Kentucky
Fatalities=70
Injuries=
Aircraft Type=Convair 880
Operator=Trans World Airlines
Tail Number=N821TW
Passengers=75
Crew=7
Survivors =12 (10 passengers and 2 crew members)

TWA Flight 128 was a domestic U.S. Flight enroute from Los Angeles, CA to Boston, MA with scheduled stops at Cincinnati, OH and Pittsburgh, PA. The flight had been cleared for an ILS approach to Runway 18, and had cleared the outer marker. The aircraft struck trees on final approach and crashed 9,357 feet short and 429 feet right of the extended centerline of the runway at Greater Cincinnati Airport (CVG).

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Convair 880, tail number N821TW. It was the sixth loss of a Convair 880 and at the time the worst accident involving a Convair 880, and 12th worst airline disaster in the U.S. This accident is currently the second worst involving a Convair 880 and 38th worst accident in the United States of America.

Crash

Upon making the approach to a scheduled landing at Greater Cincinnati Airport, the aircraft struck trees at an elevation of 875 feet. The airport, about 2 miles distant was at an elevation of 890 feet. The plane had descended through a cloud layer at night and the published minimum for these conditions was 1,290 feet. The accident site was remotely located in a wooded area. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire.

Injured passengers and survivors

As a result of the crash, 65 passengers and 5 crew members were fatally injured. Four of the passengers died from injuries in the days following the crash. Two crew members and ten passengers survived, including Robert Deters Sr. [http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/04/12/loc_ledeobit12.html] . Other surviving passengers included a 15-month old baby, 2-year old Eileen Haile and 5-year old Chris Haile.

Aftermath

The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident to be crew error, in attempting a night, visual no-glide-slope approach during deteriorating weather conditions without adequate altimeter cross reference. The NTSB Identification number is DCA68A0002.

The governor of Ohio Jim Rhodes, requested runway 18 be closed, but this was never seriously considered, as the airport is in Kentucky.

References

* [http://amelia.db.erau.edu/reports/ntsb/aar/AAR69-05.pdf NTSB Report # AAR69-05]
* [http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=15735 NTSB brief DCA68A0002]
* [http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0530493/M/ Photo of Aircraft]
* [http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,712003,00.html Time magazine article December 1, 1967]