Trial Graphics FAA Investigation USAir 427- Trial Graphics

What Caused The Crash of USAir Flight 427?

US Air Flight 427 had been a scheduled flight coming from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport into Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and en-route to the final destination in West Palm Beach in the State of Florida. This flight crashed on the 8th of September, 1994 and killed everyone on board. If you are not familiar with the problems which caused the crash of USAir Flight 427, this article will briefly look at this, plus give some details about the crash and investigation.

Boeing 737-3B7 was traveling on the route, listed N513AU and was nearing runway 28R at Pittsburgh International Airport, which is situated in Findlay Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. At that time, this airport was regarded as the biggest hub for this airline.

The Crash

The airline was piloted by Captain Peter Germano and First Officer Charles B.Emmett III. When they were at approximately 6,000 feet or 1,800 m and 6 miles or 10 km away from landing on the runway, it is said that the aircraft encountered an abrupt loss of control and subsequently slammed to the ground. The aircraft ended up in a position that was classified as vertical nose down and killed the 5 crews and all 127 passengers.

What was the result of the investigation?

Following what was recorded in aviation history as the longest investigation, which took over four years, the final statement reports that: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) establishes that the most likely cause for the crash of USAir flight 427 was because the airplane loss control which resulted from a range of motion within the rudder area to its blow down limitation. It seems that the rudder surface probably deflected to an opposite direction than what the pilots commanded due to a jam within the primary control unit for the rudder.

The report from the NTSB also showed that very much the same rudder issues had caused the earlier mysterious crash of the United Airline flight 585 on the 3rd of March 1991 and also another crash on June 9, 1996, which involved Eastwind Airlines Flight 517; they were both Boeing 737s.

On account of this investigation, aircraft pilots were subsequently cautioned and also trained on how to cope with inadequate aileron authority when traveling at speed of or no less than 218 mph, 354 km/h or 190 knots; this was previously the standard approach velocity for the B737. In addition, four extra channels for information, meaning the pilot rudder pedal controls, had been included into the data recorders for flight, whilst Boeing remodeled its rudder system for the 737s and also repaired existing aircraft until the damaged systems can be replaced.

In the end, flight 427 was recorded as the second deadly crash within a little over 2 months for the company; the other one took place in July 1994 when USAir Flight 1016 crashed at Charlotte-Douglas Airport. A number of people believe that these crashes brought on numerous financial disasters for USAir during that period.