TWA Flight 128

TWA Flight 128
	N821TW, the aircraft involved, photographed in August 1964
Accident
Date	November 20, 1967
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
Site	Constance, Kentucky ; 39°5′3.73″N 84°40′11.99″W / 39.0843694°N 84.6699972°W
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Convair 880
Operator	Trans World Airlines
Registration	N821TW
Flight origin	Los Angeles International Airport
1st stopover	Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
2nd stopover	Pittsburgh International Airport
Destination	Logan International Airport
Occupants	82
Passengers	75
Crew	7
Fatalities	70
Injuries	12
Survivors	12

TWA Flight 128 was a regularly scheduled Trans World Airlines passenger flight from Los Angeles to Boston, with intermediate stops in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. On November 20, 1967, Flight 128 crashed on final approach to Greater Cincinnati Airport; 70 of the 82 people aboard the Convair 880 were killed.^[1]^: 1

Aircraft and crew

On November 20, 1967, TWA Flight 128 was operated using a Convair 880 narrow-body jet airliner (registration number N821TW).^[1]^: 1 The Convair was manufactured in December 1960 and placed in service by TWA in January 1961. It had accumulated a total of 18,850 hours of operating time prior to the accident flight. While various maintenance writeups had occurred and been cleared in accordance with existing maintenance procedures, in no case were both the captain's and first officer's altimeters reported malfunctioning at the same time.^[1]^{: (Appendix B)}

The flight's captain, 45-year-old Charles L. Cochran, had accumulated 12,895 hours of flight time, including 1,390 hours in the Convair 880. The first officer, 33-year-old Robert P. Moyers, had approximately 2,647 hours of flight time, including 447 in the Convair 880. The flight engineer, 29-year-old Jerry L. Roades, had 3,479 hours of piloting experience, none of which were in the Convair 880, but had 288 hours of experience as a flight engineer in the 880. The flight also had four flight attendants on board.^[1]^{: (Appendix A)}

Accident

Flight 128 departed Los Angeles at 17:37 Eastern Standard Time^{[lower-alpha 1]} and operated to Cincinnati without incident.^[1]^: 2–4 The flight was initially scheduled to make an Instrument Landing System approach to Greater Cincinnati Airport's runway 18 (now runway 18C). The outer marker beacon for runway 18 was operational, but the middle marker beacon, glide slope, and runway approach lights were inoperative.^[1]^: 9 Under these conditions, proper procedure would be to maintain the minimum approach altitude of 1,290 feet (390 m) above mean sea level until the pilots made visual contact with the runway.^[1]^: 9–10

At 20:56, Flight 128 reported passing the outer marker, and was cleared to land.^[1]^: 2 The flight crew then initiated their descent and began performing their final landing checklist.^[1]^: 2 While on final approach, the aircraft descended to an elevation of 875 feet (267 m), where it first struck trees in a spot 9,357 feet (2,852 m) short of runway 18 and 429 feet (131 m) right of the runway's extended centerline.^[1]^: 2 The first impact was described by a survivor as like a hard landing; this was followed by a series of hard bumps and the airplane's final impact.^[1]^: 2 The aircraft's final position was in a wooded area 6,878 feet (2,096 m) short of the runway, where it disintegrated and was enveloped in flames.^[1]^: 2

Of the 82 people on board the aircraft, 60 were killed immediately, and another 10 died in the days following the crash.^[1]^: 16 Twelve people (two crew members and 10 passengers) survived with injuries.^[1]^: 3 One of the surviving passengers reported that the plane broke apart in front of him, he stepped out and ran from the wreckage shortly before it exploded.^[2]

Aftermath

TWA Flight 128 Marker in Hebron, KY

The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident.^[1]^: 1 NTSB investigators determined the likely cause of the accident to be crew error, in attempting a visual no-glide-slope approach at night during deteriorating weather conditions, without an adequate altimeter cross-reference.^[1]^: 38

The governor of Ohio, Jim Rhodes, requested runway 18 be closed. After the runway reopened, high intensity lights were installed on the hillside along with glide-slope equipment beacons on recommendation of the National Transportation Safety Board. ^[3]

Notes

↑ All times provided are based on those given in the NTSB's final report, which are in Eastern Standard Time.^[1]^: 2

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Aircraft Accident Report, Trans World Airlines, Inc., Convair 880, N821TW, Constance, Kentucky, November 20, 1967" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. August 27, 1969. AAR-69-05. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
↑ "Robert Deters Sr. led large west-side S&L". Enquirer.com. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
↑ "Remarks of Hon. Robert Taft Jr., Aircraft Accident Report", Congressional Record, September 24, 1969, p. 26977

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[2] All times provided are based on those given in the NTSB's final report, which are in Eastern Standard Time.^[1]^: 2

[AAR_69-05-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Aircraft Accident Report, Trans World Airlines, Inc., Convair 880, N821TW, Constance, Kentucky, November 20, 1967" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. August 27, 1969. AAR-69-05. Retrieved July 23, 2016.

[3] "Robert Deters Sr. led large west-side S&L". Enquirer.com. Retrieved 2012-08-12.

[4] "Remarks of Hon. Robert Taft Jr., Aircraft Accident Report", Congressional Record, September 24, 1969, p. 26977

[1]

[lower-alpha 1]

[2]

[3]

Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1960s
1960	National Airlines Flight 2511 Capital Airlines Flight 20 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710 Chicago Helicopter Airways Flight 698 World Airways Flight 830 Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 Cal Poly football team New York mid-air collision
1961	Goldsboro B-52 American Airlines Flight 1502 Yuba City B-52 United Air Lines Flight 859 Alaska Airlines Flight 779 TWA Flight 529 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4
1962	American Airlines Flight 1 Continental Airlines Flight 11 Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301 United Air Lines Flight 297 Eastern Air Lines Flight 512
1963	Elephant Mountain B-52 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 Camden PA-24 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293 Mohawk Airlines Flight 112 Pan Am Flight 214
1964	Savage Mountain B-52 Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 Paradise Airlines Flight 901A Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 United Air Lines Flight 823 Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114 Flying Tiger Line Flight 282
1965	USAF KC-135 Wichita Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 Pan Am Flight 843 Continental Airlines Flight 12 Allegheny Airlines Flight 604 United Air Lines Flight 389 American Airlines Flight 383 United Air Lines Flight 227 Carmel mid-air (Eastern 853, TWA 42)
1966	NASA T-38 American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D Braniff International Airways Flight 250 West Coast Airlines Flight 956
1967	Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 TWA Flight 553 West Coast Airlines Flight 720 Delta Air Lines Flight 9877 Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 TWA Flight 159 X-15 Flight 3-65-97 TWA Flight 128
1968	Ozark Air Lines Flight 965 Braniff International Airways Flight 352 Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 Northeast Airlines Flight 946 Japan Air Lines Flight 2 Pan Am Flight 281 Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 Pan Am Flight 799 North Central Airlines Flight 458 Ozark Air Lines Flight 982
1969	Allegheny Airlines Flight 737 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 United Air Lines Flight 266 Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 Prinair Flight 277 Delta Air Lines Flight 821 TWA Flight 5787 Newton Cessna 172 crash Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 Mohawk Airlines Flight 411
This list is incomplete.

Aircraft and crew

Accident

Aftermath

See also

Notes

References