Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311
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Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 was a regularly scheduled commuter flight in
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
in the
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, from
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , also known as Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport, Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield, Hartsfield–Jackson and, formerly, as the Atlanta Municipal Airport, is the primary internatio ...
to Glynco Jetport (since renamed
Brunswick Golden Isles Airport Brunswick Golden Isles Airport , previously known as Glynco Jetport, is a county-owned public-use airport located five nautical miles (9 km) north of the central business district of Brunswick, a city in Glynn County, Georgia, United State ...
) in Brunswick on April 5, 1991. The Friday afternoon flight, operating a twin-
turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...
Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series of ...
, crashed just north of Brunswick while approaching the airport for landing. All 23 aboard were killed, including
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
Sonny Carter Manley Lanier "Sonny" Carter Jr., Doctor of Medicine, M.D. (August 15, 1947 – April 5, 1991), (Captain (United States O-6), Capt, United States Navy, USN), was an American chemist, physician, professional soccer player, United States Navy, na ...
and former U.S. Senator John Tower. Four years later, another Embraer Brasilia of ASA crashed in the Georgia countryside in similar circumstances, with nine fatalities.


Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was an
Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series of ...
(registration number N270AS), manufactured on November 30, 1990. Equipped with two
Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military aviat ...
PW-118 engines and
Hamilton Standard Hamilton Standard was an American aircraft propeller parts supplier. It was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller C ...
14RF-9
propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
s, it received its U.S. standard airworthiness certificate on December 20. In service less than four months, the aircraft had accumulated about 816 flying hours and 845 cycles prior to the accident. Only one deferred maintenance item was noted in the maintenance logs, for fuel leaking from the
auxiliary power unit An auxiliary power unit (APU) is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft and naval ships as well as some large land vehicles. Aircraft APUs generally produce 115&n ...
(APU) cowling. The circuit breaker for the APU had been pulled while spare parts could be made available to fix the cowling. Because they were not required at the time, the aircraft did not have a
cockpit voice recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has b ...
or
flight data recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has ...
.


Flight crew

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Mark Friedline, age 34, had been hired by Atlantic Southeast Airlines ten years earlier in May 1981, and was fully qualified to fly three different commercial aircraft, including the EMB-120. At the time of the accident, he had accumulated an estimated 11,724 total flying hours, of which 5,720 hours were in the EMB-120. Friedline had been involved in the development of the EMB-120, and its introduction to service in the United States, and was trained to fly the aircraft by the manufacturer. An inspector described his knowledge of aircraft systems "extensive", and his pilot techniques as "excellent". First Officer Hank Johnston, age 36, was hired by Atlantic Southeast Airlines in June 1988, and was a qualified
flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...
. Because more than six months had passed since he had undergone an FAA medical inspection and been issued a first-class certificate, it automatically reverted to a second-class certificate, adequate for his duties as a first officer. At the time of the accident, Johnston had accumulated about 3,925 total flying hours, of which 2,795 hours were in the EMB-120.


Accident

On the morning of the accident, the captain and first officer arrived at the
Dothan Regional Airport Dothan Regional Airport is a public airport in Dale County, Alabama, United States, seven miles northwest of Dothan, a city mostly in Houston County. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a ''primary co ...
by taxi about 06:15
Eastern Standard Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 U.S. states, states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and ...
. The taxi cab driver reported that the crew was in good spirits and readily engaged in conversation. The crew flew first to Atlanta, then performed a round trip to
Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
, before returning to Atlanta. After this round trip, the crew had a scheduled break for around two and a half hours, in which they were described to be well rested and talkative. Flight 2311 was scheduled initially to be operated by N228AS, another EMB-120. This airplane experienced mechanical problems, so the flight was switched to N270AS. This aircraft had flown four times already on the day of the accident, with no reports of any problems. Flight 2311 departed Atlanta, operating N270AS, at 13:47, 23 minutes behind schedule. Flight 2311 deviated slightly in its flight path to Brunswick to avoid poor weather. Just after 14:48, the flight crew acknowledged to
Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
air route traffic control center that the airport was in sight, and Flight 2311 was subsequently cleared for a
visual approach A visual approach is an approach to a runway at an airport conducted under instrument flight rules (IFR) but where the pilot proceeds by visual reference and clear of clouds to the airport. The pilot must at all times have either the airport or t ...
to Glynco Jetport on runway 7, which the flight crew acknowledged. The last transmission received from Flight 2311 was to the ASA manager at the airport, who reported that the flight made an "in-range call" on the company radio frequency, and that the pilot gave no indication that the flight had any mechanical problems. Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft approaching the airport in
visual meteorological conditions In aviation, visual meteorological conditions (VMC) is an aviation flight category in which visual flight rules (VFR) flight is permitted—that is, conditions in which pilots have sufficient visibility to fly the aircraft maintaining visual se ...
at a much lower than normal altitude. Several witnesses estimated that the aircraft flew over them at an altitude of above the ground. According to most of the interviewed witnesses, the airplane suddenly rolled to the left until the wings were
perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...
to the ground. The aircraft then descended in a nose-down attitude and disappeared from sight behind trees near the airport. One witness told investigators that they saw a puff of smoke emanate from the aircraft prior to or subsequent to the airplane rolling to the left. Others reported loud engine noises described as a squeal, whine, or an overspeeding or accelerating engine during the last moments of the flight, although they said that these noises seemed to have stopped, or at least faded before the aircraft impacted with flat ground 2 miles short of the runway. One witness interviewed by the NTSB, a pilot driving on a road southwest of the airport, told investigators that he saw the airplane in normal flight at normal altitudes, and that he believed that the approach was not abnormal. The airplane completed a 180° turn from the downwind leg of the approach and continued the turn. He then saw the aircraft pitch slightly, before it rolled to the left until the wings were vertical. The airplane then turned nose-down and smashed into the ground. He saw no fire or smoke during the flight, and he believed both propellers were rotating.


Investigation

An investigation carried out by the
National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...
(NTSB) initially determined that a malfunction of the flight control surfaces, including a rudder or ailerons hardover or asymmetric flaps, could not have caused the accident, after multiple pilots in simulators managed to keep the aircraft under control. Engine failure was also ruled out by detailed inspection of the two engines. The investigators found that the "circumstances of this accident indicate that a severe asymmetric thrust condition caused a left roll that led to loss of control of the airplane. The NTSB's investigation examined all the possible events that could have caused the loss of control. The powerplant and propeller examinations indicated that the engines were operating normally, but that a propeller system malfunction occurred", which allowed the left propeller's angles to be oriented nearly perpendicular to the direction of flight, resulting in insufficient thrust and higher drag on the left side. The NTSB conducted a test flight in an EMB-120 with the left engine having the propeller control mechanism set to a similar mechanical condition, but blocking the propeller blades from moving below 22° to not endanger the flight crew. The flight crew was found to be unable to perceive any problem with the airplane until the propeller blade angle was between 24 and 26°. They stated that the airplane would have "become very difficult to control after the propeller reached the 22° stop, so the pilots of flight 2311 most likely did not notice a problem with the airplane until the propeller began to overspeed and roll control was affected." Thus, the flight crew would have been unable to declare an emergency, as the event was so sudden. The crashed aircraft's left engine propeller blades went to 3° instead of the commanded 79.2° for feathering. The NTSB's final report, while acknowledging that Atlantic Southeast's practice of overworking pilots (the pilots only received an estimated 5 to 6 hours of sleep in violation of
federal aviation regulations The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) are rules prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) governing all aviation activities in the United States. The FARs comprise Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). A wide variety o ...
) played no direct part in the accident, still raised concerns that the airline, along with other commuter airline corporations, "scheduled reduced rest periods for about 60% of the layovers in its day-to-day operations. The NTSB believes that this practice is inconsistent with the level of safety intended by the regulations, which is to allow reduced rest periods as a contingency to a schedule disruption, and has the potential of adversely affecting pilot fitness and performance."


Probable cause

On April 28, 1992, the NTSB published its final accident report, including its determination of the cause of the crash:
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that, the probable cause of this accident was the loss of control in flight as a result of a malfunction of the left engine propeller control unit, which allowed the propeller blade angles to go below the flight idle position. Contributing to the accident was the deficient design of the propeller control unit by Hamilton Standard and the approval of the design by the Federal Aviation Administration. The design did not correctly evaluate the failure mode that occurred during this flight, which resulted in an uncommanded and uncorrectable movement of the blades of the airplane’s left propeller below the flight idle position.


Notable passengers

Former U.S. Senator
John Tower John Goodwin Tower (September 29, 1925 – April 5, 1991) was an American politician, serving as a Republican United States Senator from Texas from 1961 to 1985. He was the first Republican Senator elected from Texas since Reconstruction. Tower ...
of
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
(head of the
Tower Commission The Tower Commission was a United States presidential commission established on December 1, 1986, by President Ronald Reagan in response to the Iran–Contra affair (in which senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arm ...
for the
Iran–Contra affair The Iran–Contra affair ( fa, ماجرای ایران-کنترا, es, Caso Irán–Contra), often referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the McFarlane affair (in Iran), or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States ...
) and
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
Manley "Sonny" Carter died in the crash.


Depictions in media

The
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/
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
TV series ''
Mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...
'' (also called ''Air Crash Investigation'', ''Air Emergency'' or ''Air Disasters'') dramatized the accident in a 2016 episode titled "Steep Impact".


See also

*
Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 was an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia aircraft that crashed near Carrollton, Georgia, on August 21, 1995. Nine of the 29 passengers and crew on board were killed as a result of the accident. The accident bore si ...
*
List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft This list of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft includes notable events that have a corresponding Wikipedia article. Entries in this list involve passenger or cargo aircraft that are operating commercially and meet this list ...


References


External links

* {{Portal bar, Aviation, State of Georgia, 1990s Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1991 Airliner accidents and incidents in Georgia (U.S. state) 1991 in Georgia (U.S. state) Accidents and incidents involving the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia 2311 Glynn County, Georgia April 1991 events in the United States Airliner accidents and incidents caused by mechanical failure Airliner accidents and incidents caused by engine failure