United Express Flight 2415
| Occurrence summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 26 December 1989 |
| Summary | Entered low-altitude stall due to improper de-icing and ATC error |
| Site | Tri-Cities Airport, Pasco, Washington, United States |
| Passengers | 4 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 6 (all) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | BAe Jetstream 31 |
| Operator | North Pacific Airlines dba United Express |
| Registration | N410UE |
| Flight origin | Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington |
| Stopover | Yakima Air Terminal, Yakima, Washington |
| Destination | Tri-Cities Airport, Pasco, Washington |
North Pacific Airlines Flight 5925, operated for United Express with a BAe Jetstream 31, as flight 2415, was a regularly scheduled flight from Seattle to Pasco, with an intermediate stop in Yakima.
On December 26, 1989, United Express Flight 2415, operated by North Pacific Airlines BAe Jetstream 31, crashed 400 feet short of runway 21R at Tri-Cities Airport, in Pasco, Washington at 22:30. The two pilots and four passengers were killed in the crash.
Accident
Flight 2415 took off from Seattle forty minutes late due to weather at 20:45 for Yakima. On the ground in Yakima, Captain Barry Roberts refused the ramp agent's offer to have the aircraft deiced. The ramp agent had seen First Officer Douglas McInroe and deadheading pilot Kim Shewmaker knocking ice off the wings. At 22:00, Flight 2415 took off from Yakima without being deiced with four passengers and two pilots. It was the only flight that evening in Yakima that hadn't been deiced.
First Officer McInroe radioed Pasco tower that they were on short final to runway 21R at 22:30. It was the last communication received from the aircraft. The air traffic controller in Pasco tower observed Flight 2415 flying higher and descending faster than normal before crashing into the ground. At 22:34 rescue crews arrived at the crash site, there were no survivors.[1]
Cause
The crew executed an excessively steep and unstabilized ILS approach. That approach, along with improper air traffic control commands and aircraft icing, caused the aircraft to stall and crash short of the runway. Both crew members and all four passengers were killed.[2]
References
External links
- NTSB Final Report (PDF)
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