Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight that crashed into an open field in Oak Creek, Wisconsin shortly after taking off from General Mitchell International Airport on September 6, 1985. The airplane, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, was carrying 31 passengers and crew. None of them survived the crash.
Multiple eyewitnesses reported that the plane was on fire shortly after it took off from the airport. The fire was caused due to a failure on the right engine where one of its removable sleeve spacers detached. The removable sleeve spacer suffered metal fatigue that caused the engine to explode.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the investigation team who was responsible for the investigation of the crash, concluded that despite the plane suffering engine failure, it was still controllable, and instead the response of the crew to the failure was the main cause of the accident. The crew failed to properly control the plane during the emergency. Breakdown of the crew's coordination, and poor FAA oversight also contributed to the crash.
Aircraft
On September 6, 1985, Flight 105 was a Midwest Express Airlines flight scheduled to be operated using a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14 twin-engine, single-aisle jet airliner (registration N100ME). The DC-9 was manufactured in 1968. The aircraft had accrued a total of 31,892 operating hours and 48,903 cycles at the time of the accident.
Instead of a captain and first officer, Flight 105 was crewed by two captains.
First Officer Weiss declared an emergency. The plane then climbed with a high angle of attack. Due to the high angle of attack, the air speed decreased significantly. It began to roll to the right, and then stalled and rolled abruptly to an angle of 90 degrees. The left engine suffered an unknown failure possibly due to it ingesting parts of the right engine,
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| colspan="3" |* = Unintelligible word; () = Questionable text; (()) = Commentary; — = Break in continuity; Shading = Radio communication
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| colspan="3" |smallpx|center
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!Time
!Source
!Content
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|15:19:15
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |MEP105 (to MKE tower)
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |Milwaukee, Midex one-oh-five is ready on nine right
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|15:19:19
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |MKE tower (to MEP105)
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |Midex one-oh-five Milwaukee Tower taxi into position and hold nineteen right, traffic landing two-five-right
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|15:19:23
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |MEP105 (to MKE tower)
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |Position and hold nineteen right, one-oh-five
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|15:19:27
|Captain
|Before takeoff checklist
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|15:19:31
|First Officer
|Flight Attendant two bells
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|15:19:31
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" | ((Sound of two bells))
|-
|15:19:33
|First officer
|Transponder on, flaps twenty
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|15:19:33
|Captain
|Twenty's checked
|-
|15:19:33
|First Officer
|Annunciation
|-
|15:19:36
|Captain
|Checked
|-
|15:19:36
|First Officer
|Ignition
|-
|15:19:36
|Captain
|(It's Checked)
|-
|15:19:36
|First Officer
|Before takeoff checklist complete
|-
|15:19:54
|Captain
|Corporate jet almost looks like a fighter, doesn't it
|-
|15:19:54
|First Officer
|Yeah
|-
|15:20:29
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |MKE tower (to MEP105)
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |Midex one-oh-five cleared for takeoff
|-
|15:20:30
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" | ((Sound similar to parking brake release))
|-
|15:20:31
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |MEP105 (to MKE tower)
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |Midex one-oh-five
|-
|15:20:32
|Captain
|Here we go
|-
|15:20:43
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" | ((Sound of increasing engine noises))
|-
|15:20:52
|Captain
|Spoiling up
|-
|15:20:52
|First Officer
|*Coming up
|-
|15:20:55
|First Officer
|Power normal
|-
|15:21:02
|First Officer
|One Hundred
|-
|15:21:07
|First Officer
|Vee one
|-
|15:21:08
|First Officer
|Rotate
|-
|15:21:09
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" | ((Sound of thump))
|-
|15:21:13
|First Officer
|Positive rate
|-
|15:21:14
|Captain
|Gear up
|-
|15:21:14
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" | ((Sound of Gear handle being re-positioned))
|-
|15:21:16
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" | ((Sound of Gear door closing))
|-
|15:21:22
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" | ((Sound of normal spoiler handle mechanism recycling))
|-
|15:21:26
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" | ((Sound of loud clunk))
|-
|15:21:26
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" | ((Sound of engine spooling down))
|-
|15:21:27
|Captain
|What the fuck was that?
|-
|15:21:29
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |MKE tower (to MEP105)
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |Midex one-oh-five turn left heading one-seven-five
|-
|15:21:29
|Captain
|What do we got here bill?
|-
|15:21:33
|Captain
|Here--
|-
|15:21:34
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |MEP105 (to MKE tower)
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |Midex one-oh-five Roger, Uh we've got a(n) emergency here.
|-
|15:21:26
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" | ((Sound of Stick shaker starts and continues until end of recording))
|-
|15:21:38
|Captain
|Oh shit!
|-
|15:21:38
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |MKE Tower (to MEP105)
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |Midex one-oh-five Roger
|-
|15:21:39
|Lead Flight attendant
|*Heads down
|-
|15:21:40
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |United 472 (to MKE tower)
|style="background:#E8F6F3;" |Milwaukee tower--
|-
|15:21:40
|Lead Flight attendant
|Heads down
|-
|15:21:41
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" | Whoo- ((Sound of beginning of first "Whoop" of the Ground Proximity warning system ))
|-
|15:21:41
|Lead Flight attendant
|*Heads down
|-
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" |((Sound of impact))
! colspan="2" style="font-size: 1.00em;" |((End of recording))
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Investigation
The NTSB was under intense pressure by the public to determine the cause of the crash, as the Midwest express crash was the third major aircraft accident in the U.S. in 1985 and the eighth worldwide that year.
Roughly 100 eyewitnesses stated that they saw flames and smoke from the right engine shortly after the explosion and that some parts of the plane detached and fell to the ground. They also stated that loud bangs were continuously heard during the accident. Shortly afterwards, the crew lost control of the plane and the plane crashed into the field. Investigators then constructed several possible scenarios as to what might have caused the plane to lose control.
On the 35th anniversary, a concrete slab with a gold plaque was placed in a small park near the end of runway 19R, the same runway the flight took off from. The plaque reads: "They are the warmth in our smiles and the spirit in our hearts. They are not forgotten. Dedicated to the crew and passengers aboard flight #105."
See also
- Aviation accidents and incidents
- Aviation safety
- List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft