MD82 / C441, Lambert-St Louis MI USA, 1994

MD82 / C441, Lambert-St Louis MI USA, 1994

Summary

On 22 November 1994 a McDonnell Douglas MD 82 flight crew taking off from Lambert- St. Louis at night in excellent visibility suddenly became aware of a stationary Cessna 441 on the runway ahead and was unable to avoid a high speed collision. The collision destroyed the Cessna but allowed the MD82 to be brought to a controlled stop without occupant injury. The Investigation found that the Cessna 441 pilot had mistakenly believed his departure would be from the runway he had recently landed on and had entered that runway without clearance whilst still on GND frequency.

Description

On 22 November 1994 a McDonnell Douglas MD 82 (N954U) being operated by Trans World Airlines and taking off on a scheduled passenger flight from Lambert-St. Louis to Denver CO as TWA 427 in normal night visibility collided with a Cessna 441 (N441KM) being operated by Superior Aviation on a non-revenue positioning flight from Lambert-St. Louis to Iron Mountain. The Cessna was stationary ahead of the MD 82 on the same runway. The Cessna was destroyed and its two occupants were killed. The MD82 sustained substantial damage but remained under control and was brought to a stop and an emergency evacuation of its 140 occupants was carried out. Neither aircraft caught fire.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the NTSB. The FDR and CVR from the MD82 were recovered and successfully replayed. The Cessna did not have, nor was it required to have, either a CVR or an FDR.

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