Emery Worldwide Flight 17

Emery Worldwide Flight 17 was a regularly scheduled domestic cargo flight, flying from Reno to Dayton with an intermediate stopover at Rancho Cordova. On February 16, 2000, the DC-8 crashed onto an automobile salvage yard shortly after taking off from Sacramento Mather Airport, killing all three crew members on board. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that during the aircraft's rotation, a control rod to the right elevator control tab detached, causing a loss of pitch control. The crew attempted unsuccessfully to return to Mather airport. The NTSB further found that an incorrect maintenance procedure, which was implemented by Emery Worldwide, introduced an incorrect torque-loading on the bolts which were supposed to connect the control rod.[1]

Emery Worldwide Flight 17
The aircraft involved in the crash pictured in 1987, then operated by United Airlines
Accident
DateFebruary 16, 2000
SummaryRight elevator control tab detached during take off due to faulty maintenance resulting in loss of pitch control
SiteSacramento Mather Airport, Rancho Cordova, California
38°33′40″N 121°15′4″W
Aircraft
Aircraft typeMcDonnell Douglas DC-8-71F
OperatorEmery Worldwide
RegistrationN8079U
Flight originReno–Tahoe International Airport,Reno, Nevada
StopoverSacramento Mather Airport, Rancho Cordova, California
DestinationJames M. Cox Dayton International Airport, Dayton, Ohio
Occupants3
Crew3
Fatalities3
Survivors0

Fifteen recommendations were issued by the NTSB. One of the recommendations was to evaluate every DC-8 on U.S soil to prevent further crashes that could be caused by the disconnection of the right elevator tab. The Federal Aviation Administration subsequently found more than 100 maintenance violations by the airline, including one that caused another accident on April 26, 2001. Emery Worldwide later grounded its entire fleet permanently on August 13, 2001.[1]

Accident

The flight was a regular domestic cargo flight from Reno–Tahoe International Airport (RNO) to James M. Cox Dayton International Airport (DAY) with an intermediate stopover at Sacramento Mather Airport in Rancho Cordova, California. The flight was operated by Emery Worldwide - then a major cargo airline in the U.S - using a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71F with 3 crew members on board.[1]

After completing the taxi checklist, the crew members initiated the before take-off checklist at around 19:47 local time. They then advised traffic at the airport, which had not yet reopened its control tower, that they were going to initiate the take-off from runway 22L. The crew members were later cleared for take-off. The crew applied a continuous nose-down input during the take-off roll.[1]

As the aircraft reached its V1 speed, the captain called "rotate". The pitch then increased from 0.2 to 5.3 degrees. According to the data from the control column, the crew at the time were still applying forward movement to the control column (nose down input), but somehow the nose raised upwards. Data from the aircraft indicated that the crew added more force to the control column, from 14.5 to 17.4 degrees. The aircraft reached V2 and began to lift off.[1]

Immediately after the aircraft lifted off from the runway, the aircraft entered a left turn and the first officer quickly stated that Flight 17 would like to return to Sacramento. The engine's rpm began to decrease and the stick shaker activated for the first time. The Captain declared an emergency on Flight 17, believing a load shift had occurred. The aircraft began to move erratically, with the elevator deflection and the bank angle began to decrease and increase. The aircraft began to descend.[1]

The captain repeated the emergency declaration as the engine's rpm began to increase. At the time, the aircraft was descending with a steepening bank of 11 degrees. The crew then added power and the aircraft began to climb again. As the aircraft continued to climb, the bank angle began to increase to the left. The captain then contacted Mather Tower, stating that Flight 17 "has an extreme problem."[1][2]

The aircraft then continued to fly in a northwesterly heading. The crew was trying to stabilize the aircraft as it began to sway to the left and to the right. The Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) then started to sound. At 19:51, the aircraft's left wing contacted a concrete and steel support column for an overhang attached to a two-story building, located adjacent to the southeast edge of the salvage yard. The DC-8 then crashed onto the salvage yard, striking hundreds of cars, before the fuel tanks ruptured and exploded. All three crew members on board were killed.[3][1]

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved in the accident was a 1968-built Douglas DC-8-61, registration N8079U. Operated by United Airlines (1968–1990) and Líneas Aéreas Paraguayas (1990–1994), later modified for service as a freighter before being sold. In March 1994 N8079U was operated by Emery Worldwide and had accumulated approximately 84,447 flight hours in 33,395 flight cycles. In July 1983, the Pratt & Whitney JT3D engines were replaced with CFM International CFM56 engines to upgrade the aircraft from a 60 series to a 70 series aircraft.[4]

The flight crew consisted of Captain Kevin Stables (43) who had logged 13,329 flight hours and 2,128 hours in type; First Officer George Land (35) who had logged 4,511 flight hours and 2,080 in type; and Flight Engineer Russell Hicks (38) who had logged 9,775 flight hours and 675 in type.

Investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its final report in 2003, three years after the accident. The report stated that the crash of Flight 17 was caused by the detachment of the right elevator control tab. The disconnection was caused by the failure to properly secure and inspect the attachment bolt.[5]

The NTSB then added: "The safety issues discussed in this report include DC-8 elevator position indicator installation and usage, adequacy of DC-8 maintenance work cards (required inspection items), and DC-8 elevator control tab design. Safety recommendations are addressed to the Federal Aviation Administration".[5]

CVR transcript

Expletives are indicated by a "#" and "..." indicate a pause. Some portions have been omitted.[6]

Time (PST) Source Content
19:48:44 Captain Airspeed's alive.
19:48:44 First officer Alive here.
19:48:50 Captain Eighty knots.
19:49:53 First officer ...Elevator checks.
19:49:02 Captain V one.
19:49:06 Captain Rotate.
19:49:09 Captain ...Watch the tail.
19:49:13 Captain V two.
19:49:14 Captain Positive rate.
19:49:16 First officer I got it.
19:49:17 Captain You got it?
19:49:17 First officer Yep.
19:49:18 Captain All right.
19:49:19 First officer We're going back.
19:49:20 Flight engineer What the #?
19:49:20 First officer CG's waay out of limits.
19:49:25 Flight engineer #. Do you want to pull the power back?
19:49:30 First officer Oh #.
19:49:30 Captain Push forward.
19:49:36 Captain to ATC Emery seventeen emergency.
19:49:38 First officer Ahhh #.
19:49:40 Sacramento TRACON Emery seventeen Sacramento departure radar contact say again?
19:49:40 First officer You steer. I'm pushing.
19:49:44 Captain to ATC Emery seventeen has an emergency.
19:49:44 Flight engineer We're sinking. We're going down guys.
19:49:46 ATC Emery seventeen go ahead.
19:49:47 First officer Power.
19:49:52 Captain All right all right... all right.
19:49:54 First officer Push.
19:49:54 Flight engineer Okay so... we're going back up.
19:49:57 Flight engineer There you go.
19:49:58 Captain Roll out.
19:50:04 Captain to ATC Emery seventeen extreme CG problem.
19:50:06 Sacramento TRACON Emery seventeen roger.
19:50:11 Captain Roll out to the right.
19:50:12 First officer Okay.
19:50:15 First officer Push.
19:50:18 First officer Awww...
19:50:26 Flight engineer You got the trim maxed?
19:50:28 First officer Power.
19:50:28 Flight engineer More?
19:50:29 First officer Yeah.
19:50:32 First officer We're gonna have to land fast.
19:50:36 Captain Left turn.
19:50:36 First officer Okay.
19:50:37 First officer What I'm trying to do is make the airplane's position match the elevator. That's why I'm putting it in a bank.
19:50:45 Captain All right.
19:50:45 First officer Okay.
19:50:46 Captain Left turn.
19:50:46 First officer So we're gonna have to land it in like a turn.
19:50:47 Captain Bring it around.
19:50:49 First officer God #.
19:50:54 First officer You got the airport?
19:50:56 Captain Bring it around.
19:51:00 First officer Power.
19:51:07 First officer Power.
19:51:07 First officer Aww #.
19:51:08 [Sound similar to impact]
19:51:09 [End of recording]

Dramatization

The crash of Emery Worldwide Flight 17 was featured in the first episode of the eighteenth season in the Canadian documentary show Mayday, also known as Air Disasters in the United States and as Air Crash Investigation in Europe and the rest of the world. The episode was titled "Nuts and Bolts".

gollark: There's nothing *significantly* bad, they install fine and whatever, but sometimes stuff just won't work for some reason.
gollark: Nvidia Linux drivers are always so moderately annoying.
gollark: Oh, bee you, Nvidia.
gollark: I can just do `nvidia-smi` on my laptop and it reports what is presumably the power it's using.
gollark: Don't they mostly have onboard power metering anyway?

See also

References
  1. Aircraft Accident Report: Loss of Pitch Control on Takeoff, Emery Worldwide Airlines, Flight 17, McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71F, N8079U, Rancho Cordova, California, February 16, 2000 (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. August 5, 2003. NTSB/AAR-03/02.
  2. Corwin, Miles; Warren, Jennifer. "Cargo Plane Crashes Outside Sacramento, Killing 3". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  3. "Fiery Cargo Jet Crash Ignites Huge Fire / Crew of 3 killed as DC-8 feared hits auto yard near Sacramento". SF Gate. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  4. "N8079U Emery Worldwide Airlines Douglas DC-8-60/70". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  5. "Board Meeting : Emery Worldwide Airlines, Inc., McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71F, N8079U, Rancho Cordova, California, on February 16, 2000". NTSB. National Transportation Safety Board.
  6. "CVR transcript" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. April 24, 2001. DCA00MA026. Retrieved June 6, 2019.

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