Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17

2000 aviation accident in California

Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17

N8079U, the aircraft involved, seen at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in 1999

Accident
Date| February 16, 2000
Summary| Loss of pitch control due to faulty maintenance
Site| Sacramento Mather Airport, Rancho Cordova, California
38°33′40″N 121°15′4″W﻿ / ﻿38.56111°N 121.25111°W﻿ / 38.56111; -121.25111
Aircraft
Aircraft type| McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71F
Operator| Emery Worldwide Airlines
IATA flight No.| EB017
ICAO flight No.| EWW017
Call sign| EMERY 017
Registration| N8079U
Flight origin| Reno–Tahoe International Airport, Reno, Nevada
Stopover| Sacramento Mather Airport, Rancho Cordova, California
Destination| James M. Cox Dayton International Airport, Dayton, Ohio
Occupants| 3
Passengers| 0
Crew| 3
Fatalities| 3
Survivors| 0

Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 was a regularly scheduled United States domestic cargo flight, flying from Reno, Nevada to Dayton, Ohio with an intermediate stopover at Rancho Cordova, California. On February 16, 2000, the DC-8-71F operating the flight crashed onto an automobile salvage yard shortly after taking off from Sacramento Mather Airport, resulting in the deaths of all three crew members on board. The crew reported control problems during takeoff and attempted unsuccessfully to return to Mather airport.[1]

## Aircraft and crew

[edit]

The aircraft involved in 1987, while operating with United Airlines

The aircraft involved in the accident was a 1968-built Douglas DC-8-71, 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 Airlines and had accumulated about 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.[2]

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.[1]: 8–9

## Accident

[edit]

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 Airlines – then a major cargo airline in the U.S. – using a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71F with the three 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 local traffic 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°. Data from the control column indicated the crew at the time was still applying forward movement to the control column (nose-down input), but somehow the nose rose upward from 14.5 to 17.4° as the crew added more force to the control column. 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 speed 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, and the elevator deflection and the bank angle began to decrease and increase, respectively. The aircraft began to descend.[1]

The captain repeated the emergency declaration as the engine's speed began to increase. At the time, the aircraft was descending with a steepening bank of 11°. 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 stated that Flight 17 "has an extreme CG problem."[1][3]

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, touching off "a hellish scene of smoke, flames and exploding cars [that] could be seen for miles". All three crew members on board were killed.[4][1]

## Investigation

[edit]

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 NTSB further found that an incorrect maintenance procedure, which was implemented by Emery Worldwide Airlines, introduced an incorrect torque-loading on the bolts that were supposed to connect the control rod.[1] The 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]

Fifteen recommendations were issued by the NTSB. One of these 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 Airlines had its entire fleet grounded on August 13, 2001, and it ceased operations permanently on December 5, 2001.[1]

## CVR transcript

[edit]

Expletives are indicated by a "#" and a pause is indicated by "...". Some portions (such as when the speaker is unidentified) 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
19:48:53  | 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 way 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

[edit]

The crash of Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 was featured in the first episode of the 18th 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".[7]

## See also

[edit]

* Trans International Airlines Flight 863 – another accident involving a DC-8 freighter and problems with the right elevator

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ "N8079U Emery Worldwide Airlines Douglas DC-8-60/70". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
3. ^ Corwin, Miles; Warren, Jennifer. "Cargo Plane Crashes Outside Sacramento, Killing 3". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
4. ^ "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.
5. ^ a b "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. ^ "Cockpit Voice Recorder 12 - Exhibit No. 12A - Factual Report of Group Chairman" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. April 24, 2001. DCA00MA026. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
7. ^ Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 at IMDb

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Transportation Safety Board.

## External links

[edit]

* Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
* Cockpit Voice Recorder transcript and accident summary

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* Alaska Airlines Flight 261 (January 2000)
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