American Eagle Flight 4184
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American Eagle Flight 4184 was a regional airline flight that crashed after flying into known icing conditions on October 31, 1994. Control was lost and all aboard were killed.
The aircraft, N401AM, was an ATR 72-212 operated by Simmons Airlines on behalf of American Eagle (a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation). The flight was en route from Indianapolis International Airport, Indiana to O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois. Bad weather in Chicago caused delays, prompting air traffic control to hold Flight 4184 over the nearby [LUCIT intersection] at 10,000 ft.
While holding, they encountered freezing rain — a dangerous icing condition where supercooled droplets rapidly cause intense ice buildup. Soon after, they were cleared to descend to 8,000 ft. During this descent the aircraft experienced an uncommanded roll excursion, which disengaged the autopilot. Flight recorder data showed that it subsequently went through at least one full roll, and the crew was unable to gain back control of the rapidly descending aircraft. Less than two minutes later, contact was lost as the plane impacted a soybean field near Roselawn, Indiana, killing all 64 passengers and 4 crew on board.
The NTSB stated as probable cause of this crash the flight into known icing conditions, with the aircraft being operated outside its "icing certification envelope". While the ATR's deicing boots were able to remove ice along the leading edge, it rapidly re-formed behind the boots as runback ice, where it could not be removed. This separated the airflow from the wing's surface and made the aileron control inadequate or nonexistent. The ATR family of aircraft has had a history of known and reported control problems in icing conditions. For that reason, the NTSB also mentioned as contributing factors the "inadequate response" on part of the manufacturer and the French (DGAC) and US (FAA) aviation authorities to these reports. After this crash, American Airlines stopped using its American Eagle ATRs out of their northern hubs and moved them to their Caribbean hubs, Miami and San Juan to alleviate potential icing problems in the future.
Dramatization
This crash was featured on the Discovery Channel program The New Detectives.External links
- [Aviation Safety Network summary]
- [NTSB AAR-96/01 – detailed Aircraft Accident Report] (#redirect , 340 pages)
- [NTSB AAR-96/02 – comments of Bureau Enquète-Accidents] (#redirect , 341 pages)
- [PlaneCrashInfo.Com entry on Flight 4184]
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