Comair Flight 444

Infobox Airliner incident
name=Comair Flight 444
Crash

Date=October 8, 1979
Type=Crash on takeoff
Site=Greater Cincinnati Airport
Fatalities=8
Injuries=0
Aircraft Type=Piper PA-31 Navajo
Operator=Comair
Tail Number=N6642L
Passengers=7
Crew=1
Survivors =0On October 8, 1979, Comair Flight 444, a Piper PA-31 Navajo, crashed shortly after takeoff from Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. All eight people on board died.

Aircraft

The Piper PA-31 Navajo, tail number N6642L was an aircraft used for commuter flights. Flight 444 was scheduled between Hebron, Kentucky's Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport (Cincinnati, Ohio area) and Nashville, Tennessee. The aircraft as configured was a seven passenger aircraft powered by two AVCO Lycoming engines, each rated at 310 HP.

Crash

The flight was cleared to runway 18 shortly after 10:06. The aircraft began its takeoff roll with both engines running and flaps extended to 10 to 20 degrees. Shortly after rising above the runway the pilot reported loss of power to one engine. The aircraft rolled to the right and impacted the ground. All passengers and the pilot died as a result of the crash, which was judged to be non-survivable.

Aftermath

The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident was a partial loss of power immediately after liftoff. The pilot failed to take immediate corrective action, either rejecting the takeoff or raising landing gear and flaps. Contributing factors were the pilot's inexperience with multiengine aircraft, a hurried departure, inadequate training, inexperienced company management, ineffective FAA certification and surveillance of the operator (Comair).

References

* [http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR80-08.pdf NTSB report AAR-80-8]
* [http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=34515&key=0 NTSB brief DCA80AA002]