B732, vicinity Washington National DC USA, 1982

B732, vicinity Washington National DC USA, 1982

Summary

On 13 January 1982, an Air Florida Boeing 737-200 took off in daylight from runway 36 at Washington National in moderate snow but then stalled before hitting a bridge and vehicles and continuing into the river below after just one minute of flight killing most of the occupants and some people on the ground. The accident was attributed entirely to a combination of the actions and inactions of the crew in relation to the prevailing adverse weather conditions and, crucially, to the failure to select engine anti ice on which led to over reading of actual engine thrust.

Description

On 13 January 1982, a Boeing 737-200 being operated by Air Florida on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Washington National to Tampa FL failed to transition to a climb in day Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) after taking off from runway 36 and soon afterwards hit a bridge and vehicles on it before coming to rest in the Potomac River. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and 69 of the 74 occupants and 4 people on the ground were killed and 4 more on the ground were injured.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the National Transportation Safety Board (USA) (NTSB). The Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) were recovered and successful download accomplished.

It was found that the Captain had just four years jet experience, all gained at Air Florida, of which two years had been in command. The First Officer had two years commercial flying experience, all at Air Florida, after USAF service. The First Officer had been designated as PF. Take off weight was 46400kg.

The flight sequence was reconstructed as follows:

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