1990 Wayne County Airport runway collision

On December 3, 1990, two Northwest Airlines jetliners collided at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. Flight 1482, a scheduled Douglas DC-9-14 operating from Detroit to Pittsburgh International Airport, taxied by mistake onto an active runway in dense fog and was hit by a departing Boeing 727 operating as Flight 299 to Memphis International Airport. One member of the crew and seven passengers of the DC-9 were killed.

Northwest Airlines Flight 1482 Northwest Airlines Flight 299

Wreckage of Flight 1482.
Accident
Date	December 3, 1990 (1990-12-03)
Summary	Runway collision in fog due to pilot and ATC error, in addition to poor taxiway conditions
Site	Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Michigan 42°12′45″N 83°21′12″W
Total fatalities	8
Total injuries	10
Total survivors	190
First aircraft
N3313L, the Northwest Airlines Douglas DC-9-14 involved, seen at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in 1990 in a previous livery
Type	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14
Operator	Northwest Airlines
IATA flight No.	NW1482
ICAO flight No.	NWA1482
Call sign	NORTHWEST 1482
Registration	N3313L
Flight origin	Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Michigan
Destination	Pittsburgh International Airport
Occupants	44
Passengers	40
Crew	4
Fatalities	8
Injuries	10
Survivors	36
Second aircraft
The accident aircraft in December 1993 after repair and return to service
Type	Boeing 727-251-Adv
Operator	Northwest Airlines
IATA flight No.	NW299
ICAO flight No.	NWA299
Call sign	NORTHWEST 299
Registration	N278US
Flight origin	Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Michigan
Destination	Memphis International Airport, Tennessee
Occupants	154
Passengers	146
Crew	8
Fatalities	0
Injuries	0
Survivors	154

Accident

Northwest Airlines Flight 1482, a Douglas DC-9-14, was cleared from the gate toward Runway 03C, but it missed turning onto Taxiway Oscar 6 and instead entered the outer taxiway. To correct the error, the crew was instructed to turn right onto Taxiway X-ray, but they instead turned onto the active runway, 03C. They realized the mistake and contacted air traffic control, which instructed them to leave the runway immediately.

Five seconds later (at 13:45 EST), the crew saw the Boeing 727, Northwest Flight 299 to Memphis, heading toward them on its takeoff roll. The 727's wing cut through the right side of the DC-9's fuselage just below the windows, then continued aft, finally cutting off the DC-9's right side (#2) engine. The DC-9 caught fire and was destroyed.

The captain of the DC-9 escaped from the aircraft through the left sliding window. Eighteen people escaped the plane from the left overwing exit, 13 people escaped through the left main boarding door and four people jumped from the right service door. The rear jumpseat flight attendant and a passenger died from smoke inhalation in the DC-9's tail cone; the tail cone release was not activated. Later, an investigation determined that the release mechanism was mechanically inoperable.

Of the surviving passengers, the NTSB stated that 10 received serious injuries and 23 received minor or no injuries. The three surviving crew members received minor or no injuries. The NTSB added that it did not receive medical records for three passengers who were admitted to a burn center; for purposes of the report, the NTSB labeled their injuries as serious. The NTSB also did not receive medical records for the copilot and six passengers who were treated and released from area hospitals; for the purposes of the report, the NTSB assumed that they had received minor injuries.

After the collision, the 727 flight crew immediately initiated a rejected takeoff and was able to stop the aircraft safely on the remaining runway. The captain then shut down all three engines and ascertained that no one on board had been injured and that the aircraft was only lightly damaged. Deciding that no immediate danger existed, he did not order an emergency evacuation, and the passengers and crew deplaned using the rear airstair after the aircraft was sprayed with fire retardant foam as a precaution. The 727 sustained a damaged wing and was later repaired.

Damage of N278US

Aircraft and crew

The DC-9 operating Flight 1482, registered as N3313L, was built in 1966 and had a total of 62,253 operating hours. The plane was delivered new to Delta, which sold it to Southern Airways in 1973. It became part of Northwest's fleet after the 1986 acquisition of Southern's successor, Republic Airlines. It was declared a total loss and scrapped following this accident. The crew consisted of Captain William Lovelace (52), who had logged 23,000 flight hours with 4,000 hours in the DC-9, and First Officer James Schifferns (43), who had logged 4,685 flight hours with 185 hours in the DC-9.

The Boeing 727 operating Flight 299 was registered N278US and had been delivered to Northwest in 1975. It had 37,310 operating hours. The aircraft was repaired and continued in service for Northwest until 1995. N278US was flown by Kitty Hawk Aircargo before being scrapped in 2011. The crew consisted of Captain Robert Ouellette (42), who had logged 10,400 flight hours with 5,400 hours on the 727, First Officer William Hagedorn (37), who had logged 5,400 flight hours with 2,350 hours on the 727, and Flight Engineer Darren Owen (31), who had logged 3,300 flight hours with 900 hours on the 727.

Investigation

The accident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, which determined the probable cause of the accident to be:

a lack of proper crew coordination, including a virtual reversal of roles by the DC-9 pilots, which led to their failure to stop taxiing their airplane and alert the ground controller of their positional uncertainty promptly before and after intruding onto the active runway.

Contributing to the cause of the accident were (1) deficiencies in the air traffic control services provided by the Detroit tower, including failure of the ground controller to take timely action to alert the local controller to the possible runway incursion, inadequate visibility observations, failure to use progressive taxi instructions in low-visibility conditions, and issuance of inappropriate and confusing taxi instructions compounded by inadequate backup supervision for the level of experience of the staff on duty; (2) deficiencies in the surface markings, signage, and lighting at the airport and the failure of Federal Aviation Administration surveillance to detect or correct any of these deficiencies; and (3) failure of Northwest Airlines, Inc., to provide adequate cockpit resource management training to their line aircrews.

Contributing to the fatalities in the accident was the inoperability of the DC-9 internal tail cone release mechanism. Contributing to the number and severity of injuries was the failure of the crew of the DC-9 to properly execute the passenger evacuation.

In popular culture

The accident is featured in the fourth episode of Season 20 of Mayday, also known as Air Crash Investigation. The episode is titled "Taxiway Turmoil."

See also

• Tenerife airport disaster – 1977 runway incursion in dense fog involving two Boeing 747s, which is the deadliest accident in aviation history
• Madrid runway disaster – 1983 fatal takeoff accident also involving a DC-9 taxiing incorrectly in dense fog and being struck by a 727 taking off
• Air Canada Flight 759 - 2017 near miss involving an Airbus A320-211 nearly landing on a taxiway occupied by four aircraft
• 1991 Los Angeles airport runway collision – 1991 fatal accident in which a Boeing 737 landed on a runway occupied by a Fairchild Metroliner
• 2001 Linate Airport runway collision - 2001 fatal accident in which a Cessna Citation CJ2 taxied in front of a McDonnell Douglas MD-87 taking off in dense fog
• 1983 Anchorage runway collision - a nonfatal accident in which a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 attempted to take off from partway down a runway occupied by a Piper PA-31 in dense fog
• TWA Flight 427
• United Express Flight 5925
• 2024 Haneda Airport runway collision - 2024 fatal accident in which an Airbus A350 landed on a runway occupied by a DHC-8

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Transportation Safety Board.