Pan Am Flight 759

Infobox Airliner accident|name=Pan American Flight 759
Date=July 9, 1982
Type=Microburst-induced wind shear
Site=Kenner, Louisiana
Fatalities=153 (8 on the ground)
Injuries=0
Aircraft Type=Boeing 727-235
Origin=Miami International Airport
Last stopover=New Orleans International Airport
Destination=McCarran International Airport
Operator=Pan American World Airways
Tail Number=airreg|N|4737|disaster
Ship name=Clipper Defiance
Passengers=138
Crew=7
Survivors =None

Pan Am Flight 759, operated by a Boeing 727-235, N4737 "Clipper Defiance", was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Miami to Las Vegas, with an en route stop at New Orleans. On July 9 1982 at 4:07:57 PM central daylight time, Flight 759, with seven crew members, one non-revenue passenger in the cockpit jumpseat, and 137 passengers (a total of 145 people on board), began its takeoff from runway 10 at the New Orleans International Airport (now Louis Armstrong International), in Kenner, Louisiana.

At the time of Flight 759's takeoff, there were thunderstorms over the east end of the airport. The winds were gusty and swirling. Flight 759 lifted off the runway, climbed to an altitude of between 95 and 150 feet (29 and 46 m), and then began to descend. About 2,376 feet (724 m) from the end of runway, the aircraft struck a line of trees at an altitude of about 50 feet (15 m). The aircraft continued descending for another 2,234 feet (681 m), hitting trees and houses before crashing in a residential area about 4,610 feet (1405 m) from the end of the runway.

The aircraft was destroyed during the impact, explosion, and subsequent ground fire. A total of 153 people were killed (145 ticketed passengers on board and 8 on the ground). There were no survivors. Six houses were destroyed; five houses were damaged substantially. [ [http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/07/crash071007.gif] That Day in Kenner; New Orleans Times-Picayune graphic, July 2007]

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was the aircraft's encounter with a microburst-induced wind shear during the liftoff, which imposed a downdraft and a decreasing headwind, the effects of which the pilot would have had difficulty recognizing and reacting to in time for the aircraft's descent to be arrested before its impact with trees. Contributing to the accident was the limited capability of then-current wind shear detection technology. [ [http://amelia.db.erau.edu/reports/ntsb/aar/AAR83-02.pdf] NTSB Accident Report National Transportation Safety Board Aircraft Accident Report NTSB/AAR-83/02]

A memorial to the crash victims is located at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Kenner, Louisiana.

"This article contains information taken from the (government-generated public domain) NTSB Accident Report."

References

ee also

* List of notable accidents and incidents on commercial aircraft
* Microburst
* Delta Air Lines Flight 191

External links

* [http://archdiocese-no.org/olphlachurch/] Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church; Kenner, Louisiana