Airline Accident Investigations

Aviation Attorneys

ValuJet Flight 592

On May 11, 1996, ValuJet Flight 592 was approximately 100 miles west of Miami International Airport when the pilot reported that there was smoke in the cockpit. The airplane crashed into the Everglades about 10 minutes after takeoff from Miami International Airport. All 110 people aboard the airplane were killed. It was clear a fire occurred on the plane, but details were initially sketchy.

A month after the crash, NTSB Vice Chairman Robert Francis said the focus was "more on the cargo area where we have found considerable evidence of fire." More than 100 oxygen-generating canisters were stored in that part of the plane.

The National Transportation Safety Board identified a fire in the airplane’s class D cargo compartment that was initiated by the actuation of one or more oxygen generators being improperly carried as cargo. The NTSB went on to say probable causes of the accident "were (1) the failure of SabreTech to properly prepare, package, and identify unexpended chemical oxygen generators before presenting them to ValuJet for carriage; (2) the failure of ValuJet to properly oversee its contract maintenance program to ensure compliance with maintenance, maintenance training, and hazardous materials requirements and practices; and (3) the failure of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to require smoke detection and fire suppression systems in class D cargo compartments."

The NTSB also said that factors contributing to the accident were "the failure of the FAA to adequately monitor ValuJet’s heavy maintenance programs and responsibilities, including ValuJet's oversight of its contractors, and SabreTech's repair station certificate; the failure of the FAA to adequately respond to prior chemical oxygen generator fires with programs to address the potential hazards; and ValuJet’s failure to ensure that both ValuJet and contract maintenance facility employees were aware of the carrier's ‘no-carry’ hazardous materials policy and had received appropriate hazardous materials training."

Additional Resources:

• Read the official report here.
• Read about Nurenberg Paris law firm's involvement in the case here.

TWA Flight 800

On July 17, 1996, TWA Flight 800 was en route from New York to Paris when it exploded in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 minutes after takeoff, killing all 230 on board. Early speculation of the cause of the explosion included the possibility of a terrorist attack and authorities finally ruled out that possibility more than a year after the crash.

After the FBI ruled out terrorism as a source for the crash, TWA offered a statement that said, "The recent comments of the FBI move us no closer to an answer than we were yesterday or last week or at this time last month." A conclusion based on "... the evidence we have not found ..." is clearly no conclusion at all.

Suggestions of mechanical malfunction as the cause are unproven speculation and no evidence recovered to date would conclusively support such a theory.

The NTSB investigation ended with the adoption of its final report in 2000. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the TWA Flight 800 accident "was an explosion of the center wing fuel tank (CWT), resulting from  ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in  the tank."

The NTSB went on to say that, "The source of ignition energy for the explosion could not be determined with certainty, but, of the sources evaluated by the investigation, the most likely was a short circuit outside of the CWT that allowed excessive voltage to enter it through electrical wiring associated with the fuel quantity indication system.

The NTSB went on to say that contributing factors to the accident "were the design and certification concept that fuel tank explosions could be prevented solely by precluding all ignition sources and the design and certification of the Boeing 747 with heat sources located beneath the CWT with no means to reduce the heat transferred into the CWT or to render the fuel vapor in the tank nonflammable."

Additional Resources:

• Read the official report here.
• Read about Nurenberg Paris law firm's involvement in the case here.

USAir Flight 427

On September 8, 1994, USAir Flight 427 from Chicago to Pittsburgh crashed while maneuvering to land at Pittsburgh International Airport. The flight departed carrying two pilots, three flight attendants, and 127 passengers.

The airplane entered an uncontrolled descent and impacted terrain near Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, about six miles northwest of the destination airport. All 132 people on board were killed.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that "the probable cause of the USAir flight 427 accident was a loss of control of the airplane resulting from the movement of the rudder surface to its blow-down limit. The rudder surface most likely deflected in a direction opposite to that commanded by the pilots as a result of a jam of the main rudder power control unit servo valve secondary slide to the servo valve housing offset from its neutral position and over-travel of the primary slide."

The NTSB report examined safety issues that focused on Boeing 737 rudder malfunctions, including rudder reversals; the adequacy of the 737 rudder system design; unusual altitude training for air carrier pilots; and flight data recorder (FDR) parameters.

Also, as a result of this accident, the Safety Board issued a total of 22 safety recommendations to the FAA regarding operation of the 737 rudder system and unusual altitude recovery procedures.

Additional Resources:

• Read the official report here.
• Read about Nurenberg Paris law firm's involvement in the case here.

SwissAir Flight 111

On September 2 1998, Swissair Flight 111 was en route from New York to Geneva, Switzerland. About 53 minutes after departure, the flight crew smelled an abnormal odor in the cockpit. They agreed that the origin of the anomaly was the air conditioning system. The plane initially began a turn toward Boston; however, when air traffic services mentioned Halifax, Nova Scotia, as an alternative airport, they changed the destination to the Halifax International Airport.

The flight crew prepared for a landing in Halifax, but a fire was spreading above the ceiling in the front area of the aircraft. About 13 minutes after the initial odor was detected, the aircraft’s flight data recorder began to record a rapid succession of aircraft systems-related failures. A few minutes later, the aircraft crashed into the ocean near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada. The aircraft was destroyed and all 229 aboard died.

The investigation was handled by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which concluded that aircraft certification standards for material flammability were inadequate in that they allowed the use of materials that could be ignited and sustain or propagate fire. Consequently, flammable material propagated a fire that started above the ceiling on the right side of the cockpit near the cockpit rear wall. The fire spread and intensified rapidly to the extent that it degraded aircraft systems and the cockpit environment, and ultimately led to the loss of control of the aircraft."

The report from the aviation investigation went on to say that, "The loss of primary flight displays and lack of outside visual references forced the pilots to be reliant on the standby instruments for at least some portion of the last minutes of the flight. In the deteriorating cockpit environment, the positioning and small size of these instruments would have made it difficult for the pilots to transition to their use, and to continue to maintain the proper spatial orientation of the aircraft."

Additional Resources:

• Read the official report here.
• Read about Nurenberg Paris law firm's involvement in the case here.

Alaska Airlines Flight 261

Alaska Airlines Flight 261 was scheduled to fly on January 31, 2000, from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Seattle. The last few minutes of the flight saw an epic battle transpire as the pilots tried to keep control of the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83.

A jammed stabilizer forced the crew to struggle to keep the plane from descending. At about 4:20 p.m., the pitch of the plane changed from 2.7 degrees to 70 degrees in less than 15 seconds, and within about a minute the plane hit the water. All 88 people—five crew members and 83 passengers—were killed and the plane was destroyed.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was "a loss of airplane pitch control resulting from the in-flight failure of the horizontal stabilizer trim system jackscrew assembly’s acme nut threads. The thread failure was caused by excessive wear resulting from Alaska Airlines’ insufficient lubrication of the jackscrew assembly."

The NTSB report added that Alaska Airlines’ extended lubrication interval and the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval of that extension contributed to the accident as did the absence on the McDonnell Douglas plane of a fail-safe mechanism to prevent the catastrophic effects of total acme nut thread loss.

Additional Resources:

Read the official report here.
Read about Nurenberg Paris law firm's involvement in the case here.

Airline Accident Lawyers

When you’ve been injured in an airline accident, you want an aviation lawyer who gets results and knows how to protect your rights. With more than 80 years of experience, our aviation attorneys are confident in their ability to represent your case. Contact Nurenberg Paris if you need help—experience matters.