USAir Flight 1493 vs. Skywest Flight 5569 

USAir Flight 1493 vs. Skywest Flight 5569 Los Angeles International Airport

 Los Angeles, California, February 1, 1991

On February 1, 1991, SkyWest Flight 5569 and USAir Flight 1493 collided on runway 24L at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California. Shortly after the collision the tangled aircrafts caught on fire. 34 people perished in the crash.

Minutes before the deadly crash, the SkyWest plane was preparing to take off From LAX Airport. The SkyWest twin-engine turbo-prop Fairchild Metro III plane, carrying 10 passengers and two pilots, was en route to Palmdale Regional Airport. The plane was directed by traffic control to move onto runway 24L at intersection 45 and told to hold its position in anticipation of take off.

As SkyWest Flight 5569 prepared to take off, USAir Flight 1493 was preparing to land. USAir 1493, a Boeing 737 en route from Syracuse Hancock International Airport in New York, was cleared for landing at LAX. Preoccupied with another plane, the local controller directed flight 1493 to land on runway 24L, the same runway where the smaller aircraft was positioned. Within seconds, the SkyWest flight, still waiting for the take off command, was hit by the landing Boeing 737. The collision caused both planes to skid down the runway into an unoccupied fire station where they erupted in flames.

Twenty two of the 89 people aboard the 737 lost their lives and all those aboard the smaller twin engine aircraft, ten passengers and two pilots, were killed.

The Baum Hedlund firm represented 14 passengers in wrongful death and personal injury cases in this tragedy. In addition to suing the airline, the firm also sued the FAA for negligence, in part because the air traffic controller cleared the USAir jet to land moments after she had cleared the SkyWest flight to taxi on the same runway. The aviation lawyers at the firm also blamed the FAA for failing to provide adequate policy direction and supervision to its air traffic control facility manager.

After conducting a detailed investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that this crash could have been avoided if the Los Angeles air traffic facility management would have implemented the required safety procedures. Also to blame was the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) because it failed to provide adequate policy direction and oversight to its air traffic control facility managers. According to the NTSB report, the combination of these two factors led to the inappropriate clearances by the air controller and ultimately the fatal collision.

Links to NTSB's Probable Cause Reports

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001212X16433&key=1

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001212X16433&key=2