Margareta Lewenhaupt, 23, of 114 W. Poplar Ave, San Mateo, was a flight attendant with Trans International Airlines based in Oakland, CA. On September 8, 1970 she was a crewmember on TIA 863, a repositioning flight of an empty DC-8 (N4863T) as flight 863 from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Washington Dulles International Airport where they were to pick up a school group and fly them to London. The aircraft crashed during take-off and none of the 11 occupants, who were all crew members, survived.
On takeoff from Kennedy, the airplane rotated prematurely at an abnormally low speed of 80 knots, only 1,500 feet down the runway. The tail then struck the runway at a speed of 91kts and scrapped along the concrete for 9 seconds before lift off. The aircraft became airborne at a marginal airspeed of approximately 117 knots and the nose immediately began to pitch up. At this point, there was no other option available to the crew than to continue the takeoff and the accident became inevitable. According to pilot-qualified witnesses, the DC-8 rotated slowly to an unusually nose-high attitude. Stall warnings were recorded on the CVR immediately after lift-off and continued until impact. Witnesses stated that the aircraft reached a nose-high attitude estimated to be between 60° and 90° at an altitude of 300 to 500 feet above the ground. The aircraft then rolled about 20° to the right, rolled back to the left until the left wing was approximately perpendicular to the ground, and descended in a left-wing-down, nose down attitude. The aircraft contacted the ground on its left wing and the nose. The wreckage was immediately engulfed in flames. None of the 11 occupants, who were all crew members, survived.
The probable cause of the accident was a loss of pitch control caused by the entrapment of a pointed, asphalt-covered object between the leading edge of the right elevator and the right horizontal spar web access door in the aft part of the stabilizer. (JFK had been undergoing a relocation of the outer and inner taxiways, which required the removal of old paved surfaces and resulted in taxiway and runway contamination.) The restriction to the DC-8s elevator movement, caused by a highly unusual and unknown condition, was not detected by the crew in time to reject the take off successfully. However, an apparent lack of crew responsiveness to a highly unusual emergency situation, coupled with the captain's failure to monitor adequately the take off, contributed to the failure to reject the take off. The report can be found here - https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR7112.pdf
Contributor: Trixie (46837872)Oct 2021
On takeoff from Kennedy, the airplane rotated prematurely at an abnormally low speed of 80 knots, only 1,500 feet down the runway. The tail then struck the runway at a speed of 91kts and scrapped along the concrete for 9 seconds before lift off. The aircraft became airborne at a marginal airspeed of approximately 117 knots and the nose immediately began to pitch up. At this point, there was no other option available to the crew than to continue the takeoff and the accident became inevitable. According to pilot-qualified witnesses, the DC-8 rotated slowly to an unusually nose-high attitude. Stall warnings were recorded on the CVR immediately after lift-off and continued until impact. Witnesses stated that the aircraft reached a nose-high attitude estimated to be between 60° and 90° at an altitude of 300 to 500 feet above the ground. The aircraft then rolled about 20° to the right, rolled back to the left until the left wing was approximately perpendicular to the ground, and descended in a left-wing-down, nose down attitude. The aircraft contacted the ground on its left wing and the nose. The wreckage was immediately engulfed in flames. None of the 11 occupants, who were all crew members, survived.
The probable cause of the accident was a loss of pitch control caused by the entrapment of a pointed, asphalt-covered object between the leading edge of the right elevator and the right horizontal spar web access door in the aft part of the stabilizer. (JFK had been undergoing a relocation of the outer and inner taxiways, which required the removal of old paved surfaces and resulted in taxiway and runway contamination.) The restriction to the DC-8s elevator movement, caused by a highly unusual and unknown condition, was not detected by the crew in time to reject the take off successfully. However, an apparent lack of crew responsiveness to a highly unusual emergency situation, coupled with the captain's failure to monitor adequately the take off, contributed to the failure to reject the take off. The report can be found here - https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR7112.pdf
Contributor: Trixie (46837872)Oct 2021
Margareta Lewenhaupt, 23, of 114 W. Poplar Ave, San Mateo, was a flight attendant with Trans International Airlines based in Oakland, CA. On September 8, 1970 she was a crewmember on TIA 863, a repositioning flight of an empty DC-8 (N4863T) as flight 863 from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Washington Dulles International Airport where they were to pick up a school group and fly them to London. The aircraft crashed during take-off and none of the 11 occupants, who were all crew members, survived.
On takeoff from Kennedy, the airplane rotated prematurely at an abnormally low speed of 80 knots, only 1,500 feet down the runway. The tail then struck the runway at a speed of 91kts and scrapped along the concrete for 9 seconds before lift off. The aircraft became airborne at a marginal airspeed of approximately 117 knots and the nose immediately began to pitch up. At this point, there was no other option available to the crew than to continue the takeoff and the accident became inevitable. According to pilot-qualified witnesses, the DC-8 rotated slowly to an unusually nose-high attitude. Stall warnings were recorded on the CVR immediately after lift-off and continued until impact. Witnesses stated that the aircraft reached a nose-high attitude estimated to be between 60° and 90° at an altitude of 300 to 500 feet above the ground. The aircraft then rolled about 20° to the right, rolled back to the left until the left wing was approximately perpendicular to the ground, and descended in a left-wing-down, nose down attitude. The aircraft contacted the ground on its left wing and the nose. The wreckage was immediately engulfed in flames. None of the 11 occupants, who were all crew members, survived.
The probable cause of the accident was a loss of pitch control caused by the entrapment of a pointed, asphalt-covered object between the leading edge of the right elevator and the right horizontal spar web access door in the aft part of the stabilizer. (JFK had been undergoing a relocation of the outer and inner taxiways, which required the removal of old paved surfaces and resulted in taxiway and runway contamination.) The restriction to the DC-8s elevator movement, caused by a highly unusual and unknown condition, was not detected by the crew in time to reject the take off successfully. However, an apparent lack of crew responsiveness to a highly unusual emergency situation, coupled with the captain's failure to monitor adequately the take off, contributed to the failure to reject the take off. The report can be found here - https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR7112.pdf
Contributor: Trixie (46837872)Oct 2021
On takeoff from Kennedy, the airplane rotated prematurely at an abnormally low speed of 80 knots, only 1,500 feet down the runway. The tail then struck the runway at a speed of 91kts and scrapped along the concrete for 9 seconds before lift off. The aircraft became airborne at a marginal airspeed of approximately 117 knots and the nose immediately began to pitch up. At this point, there was no other option available to the crew than to continue the takeoff and the accident became inevitable. According to pilot-qualified witnesses, the DC-8 rotated slowly to an unusually nose-high attitude. Stall warnings were recorded on the CVR immediately after lift-off and continued until impact. Witnesses stated that the aircraft reached a nose-high attitude estimated to be between 60° and 90° at an altitude of 300 to 500 feet above the ground. The aircraft then rolled about 20° to the right, rolled back to the left until the left wing was approximately perpendicular to the ground, and descended in a left-wing-down, nose down attitude. The aircraft contacted the ground on its left wing and the nose. The wreckage was immediately engulfed in flames. None of the 11 occupants, who were all crew members, survived.
The probable cause of the accident was a loss of pitch control caused by the entrapment of a pointed, asphalt-covered object between the leading edge of the right elevator and the right horizontal spar web access door in the aft part of the stabilizer. (JFK had been undergoing a relocation of the outer and inner taxiways, which required the removal of old paved surfaces and resulted in taxiway and runway contamination.) The restriction to the DC-8s elevator movement, caused by a highly unusual and unknown condition, was not detected by the crew in time to reject the take off successfully. However, an apparent lack of crew responsiveness to a highly unusual emergency situation, coupled with the captain's failure to monitor adequately the take off, contributed to the failure to reject the take off. The report can be found here - https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR7112.pdf
Contributor: Trixie (46837872)Oct 2021
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
