FAA History Lesson -- August 2 (08)

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Aug 2, 1985: A Delta Air Lines L-1011 crashed when it encountered wind shear during a landing approach to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The accident killed 134 of the 163 persons aboard and one person on the ground. The wind shear did not reach the sensors of the Low Level Wind Shear Alert System (LLWAS) until after the crash, a fact that demonstrated the system's limitations. The National Transportation Safety Board listed the accident's probable cause as: the flightcrew's decision to approach through a cumulonimbus cloud which they observed to contain lightning; lack of specific guidelines, procedures, and training for avoiding and escaping wind shear; and lack of real-time, definitive wind shear information. The report noted that low-altitude wind shear had been a cause or contributory factor in seven fatal air transport crashes since 1970.

On Nov 27, 1985, FAA announced the award of a contract for development of a comprehensive wind shear training program for pilots. The agency received the completed program in February 1987 and distributed it to the industry. On Apr 14, 1986, FAA circulated a draft Integrated Wind Shear Program plan. In addition to better pilot training, the plan featured development of: improved ground-based detectors, including: enhanced LLWAS (see Jan 1988); Next-Generation Weather Radar, known as NEXRAD (see Feb 28, 1994); Terminal Doppler Weather Radar, known as TDWR (see Nov 2, 1988); and sensors for airborne detection systems using microwave Doppler, laser, or infrared radiometer technology (see Oct 9, 1986).“

No comment from me today. I just don’t feel up to it.

Don Brown
August 2, 2008