Today marks the 25th anniversary of one of Charlotte’s worst airliner crashes.
Thirty-seven passengers were killed when US Air Flight 1016 went down as pilots tried to abort a landing during a heavy thunderstorm. The DC-9 crashed through an airport fence, hitting trees and breaking apart along Wallace Neel Road, just west of Charlotte-Douglas airport.
Federal investigators determined that probable causes of the crash included the flight crew’s failure to recognize dangerous wind-shear conditions during the thunderstorm, along with a lack of timely weather hazard information from air traffic controllers. All five crew members and more than a dozen passengers survived the crash.
Credit NTSB/aviation-safety.net
Credit NTSB/aviation-safety.net