USAir Flight 5050
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 20, 1989 |
| Type | Aborted takeoff |
| Site | LaGuardia Airport, New York |
| Passengers | 57 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Injuries | 21 |
| Fatalities | 2 |
| Survivors | 61 |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-401 |
| Operator | USAir |
| Tail number | N416US |
USAir Flight 5050 was scheduled to be flown from New York's La Guardia Airport to Charlotte, North Carolina on September 20th, 1989. This was a replacement for flight 1846 on this route which had earlier been cancelled. The flight crew was initially preparing for a flight to Norfolk, Virginia. After numerous delays the Norfolk flight was cancelled and they were told to prepare to ferry the aircraft empty to Charlotte. The USAir dispatcher then changed it to a passenger flight. As a ferry flight it would have been subject to general aviation FAA rules and regulations instead of the stricter rules governing airline flights. The Captain expressed concerns if there were further delays the flight crew might go over the duty time limits governing airline flights. After the aircraft doors were closed and they were preparing to push back the gate agent requested permission to load more passengers on to the flight. The Captain refused this request, probably due to concerns over further delays. The co-pilot was to be the flying pilot on this segment. As the flight began its takeoff roll on runway 31 the rudder was mistakenly left banked 16 degrees left. When in the air, this would make the plane yaw to the left. However on the ground, this caused the plane to pull hard to the left. When the pilot saw that the co-pilot was unable to correct the unknown problem, he assumed command, and when he saw the plane could not safely take off, he abandoned takeoff. However, since too much time had passed before he took control, the plane no longer had sufficient runway distance to stop. The Boeing 737 overran the runway, and landed in the East River breaking into 3 pieces. Of the 63 passengers aboard, 2 (Betsy Brogan and her mother-in-law, Ayles Brogan) were killed. The NTSB cited that crew error was the cause of the accident. The aircraft was less than a year old.
