Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight between Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, and Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah. On August 31, 1988, the flight, operated by a Boeing 727-200 series aircraft, crashed during takeoff at DFW, resulting in 14 deaths and 76 injuries among the 108<!-- people--> on board.<!-- https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bL1dAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Il4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=6659%2C6959 --> The cause of the crash was the crew's failure to configure the airplane's flaps or slats for takeoff. The aircraft's take-off warning system (TOWS) also malfunctioned and failed to warn the crew of the problem. Recordings from the cockpit voice recorder revealed that the crew had improperly engaged in casual conversation on various matters unrelated to the operation of the flight, which may have distracted them from properly performing their duties. The recordings, which were broadcast repeatedly by the press, proved so embarrassing that a law was subsequently passed to prohibit the release of cockpit voice recordings. Since the passage of that law, only written transcripts have been released rather than the voice recordings themselves.

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Boeing 727-232 Advanced, MSN 20750, registered as ', a three-engine narrow-body jet aircraft. It was delivered to Delta Air Lines in November 1973, and was the 992nd Boeing 727 to be manufactured. The aircraft had logged around 43,023 airframe hours and was powered by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-15 turbofan engines.

Accident

Flight 1141 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Jackson Municipal Airport in Jackson, Mississippi, to Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City, Utah, with an intermediate stop at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in North Texas.

Casualties

Two of the four flight attendants (<!--Dixie-->Dunn and<!--Rosilyn--> Marr) and 12 of the 101 passengers on board died in the accident. Medical examinations determined that all but one of the fatalities were due to smoke inhalation. Additionally, the airline itself was also faulted. The NTSB determined that Delta did not insist on standardized crew cockpit management, and that flight crews were allowed significant latitude in their conduct.

Probable cause and dissent

On September 26, 1989, the NTSB published its final accident report. and was later reinstated by Delta.

Media broadcast of the CVR tapes, which demonstrated why the crew failed to extend the airplane's flaps or slats for takeoff, provoked such an outcry by pilots that subsequent releases of CVR data have been restricted by law and carefully vetted by the NTSB. The law prohibits the NTSB from generally releasing CVR transcripts or recordings; while an exception permits the NTSB to release transcripts related to a safety investigation, there is no exception permitting the NTSB to release copies of the actual recordings.

Dramatization

The accident was featured in the third episode of season 18 of Mayday, titled "Deadly Distraction".

See also

  • Northwest Airlines Flight 255 – (1987) MD-82, TOWS failed to sound, possibly due to cockpit crew having deliberately disabled it.
  • LAPA Flight 3142 – (1999) Boeing 737-200, TOWS sounded but ignored by cockpit crew.
  • Mandala Airlines Flight 091 – (2005) Boeing 737-200, TOWS not heard on CVR and possibly failed to sound.
  • Spanair Flight 5022 – (2008) MD-82, TOWS failed to sound.

References

  • - Copy at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University
  • ()
  • Cockpit Voice Recording from 1141
  • The crash of Flight 1141/Crash resurrects memories of 1985