Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529

Aircraft and flight information

Flight 529 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Gulfport, Mississippi.

On August 21, 1995, the flight was operated using an Embraer EMB 120RT Brasilia (registration number N256AS), a twin-turboprop commuter airliner. The aircraft made its first flight in 1989 and was delivered to Atlantic Southeast Airlines on March 3 of that same year. Before the fatal flight, it had made 18,171 cycles (one cycle can be roughly defined as one flight) and accumulated a total of 17,151.3 flight hours.

The captain of the flight was Ed Gannaway, age 45, and the first officer was Matt Warmerdam, age 28. Gannaway was a skilled pilot with 9,876 total hours of flying experience, including 7,374 flight hours in the Embraer Brasilia. Warmerdam was hired by the airline in April 1995 and had logged a total of 1,193 flight hours at the time of the accident.

Passengers

Business travelers, ranging from 18 to 69 years of age, comprised most of the aircraft's passengers. Six engineers, two deputy sheriffs, two air force personnel, a minister, and a New Orleans woman planning to become a flight attendant were also on the aircraft.

Accident

Flight 529 left the ramp area at Atlanta at 12:10 Eastern Daylight Time, and took off at 12:23. At 12:43:25, while climbing through 18,100 feet, the occupants of the aircraft heard a thud which First Officer Warmerdam later described as sounding like "a baseball bat striking an aluminum trash can." One of the blades of the Hamilton Standard propeller on the left engine had failed and the entire assembly had become dislodged, deforming the engine nacelle and distorting the wing's profile.

Although the EMB 120, like all transport-category multi-engine airplanes, is designed to fly with one engine inoperative, the distortion of the engine resulted in excessive drag and loss of lift on the left side of the aircraft, causing it to rapidly lose altitude.

The flight crew initially tried to return to Atlanta for an emergency landing but the rapid descent resulted in them being diverted to West Georgia Regional Airport. The airplane was unable to stay in the air long enough and the pilots began searching for an open space to make an emergency landing. At 12:52:45 the airplane struck the tops of the trees and crashed into a field in Carroll County, Georgia near the farming community of Burwell and the city of Carrollton.

Casualties

All of the passengers and crew aboard Flight 529 survived the initial impact; the fatalities were the result of a post-crash fire.

The fire started approximately one minute after impact and an oxygen bottle behind the First Officer's seat leaked, contributing to the strength of the fire. Despite a dislocated shoulder, First Officer Warmerdam used the cockpit fire axe to cut through the thick cockpit glass. David McCorkell, a surviving passenger, later assisted by pulling the axe out of the cockpit through the hole Warmerdam had created and struck the glass from the outside in order to increase the size of the hole and help Warmerdam escape. While he was being rescued, Warmerdam said to fire chief Steve Chadwick, "Tell my wife, Amy, that I love her." Chadwick replied, "No sir, you tell her that you love her, because I'm getting you out of here." The emergency crews successfully pulled Warmerdam out of the aircraft, but Captain Gannaway was knocked unconscious in the crash landing and never regained consciousness, eventually succumbing to the fire. In an ambulance, Warmerdam consoled paramedic Joan Crawford, who believed Warmerdam would soon die. Crawford had undressed him to cool him down and pinned his badge to his underwear, to help with identification later. Despite his injuries, Warmerdam survived the plane crash.

In addition to Captain Gannaway, seven passengers died as a result of the crash and subsequent fire, including three who died within thirty days of the crash, bringing the official death toll to eight. A ninth victim died four months after the crash from severe burn injuries. None of the passengers or crew escaped uninjured; eight had minor injuries.

Many of the passengers suffered survivor's guilt; some believed that they should have assisted other passengers.

Mary Jean Adair, one of the survivors, died of a heart attack eight weeks after the crash. She was included in a dedication to the people killed by the crash in a memorial service at an elementary school gymnasium some years later.

Probable cause

The probable cause of the accident was determined to be the failure of the propeller due to undiscovered metal fatigue in one blade resulting from corrosion from chlorine. There had been two previous failures of the same type of propeller, but those aircraft had been able to land safely. The failed propeller blade had undergone scheduled ultrasonic testing on May 19, 1994, which resulted in its rejection and removal from the propeller. The blade was sent to a Hamilton Standard facility, where it was subject to refurbishing work that was incorrectly performed. The propeller blade was then installed on the propeller fitted to the aircraft on September 30, 1994.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) criticized Hamilton Standard, who had maintained the propellers, for "inadequate and ineffective corporate inspection and repair techniques, training, documentation and communication", and both Hamilton and the Federal Aviation Administration for "failure to require recurrent on-wing ultrasonic inspections for the affected propellers". The overcast skies and low cloud ceiling at the crash site also contributed to the severity of the crash.

Aftermath

The Military Fraternal Organization of Pilots awarded Warmerdam its medallion for his role in the disaster after treatment for burns. In 2002, after an estimated 50 surgeries and lengthy therapy, he was able to resume flying for ASA. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons honored his positive attitude during the long recovery with one of their “Patients of Courage: Triumph Over Adversity” awards in 2005.

The area residents built a memorial to the crash at the Shiloh United Methodist Church, near Burwell.

Many surviving passengers credited Robin Fech, the flight attendant, with saving their lives. Tanner Medical Center treated Fech's broken wrist and other lacerations before releasing her. The Georgia State Senate passed a resolution honoring Fech. The NTSB accident report commended "the exemplary manner in which the flight attendant briefed the passengers and handled the emergency." However, Dawn Dumm cried futilely out to Fech, who was with other passengers in the hayfield, to help her and her mother Adair. Dumm initially criticized Fech; later she reasoned that Fech could not hear her screams and/or did not see her through the thick smoke. In addition, Fech was proven to have been assisting passengers at that moment. Fech stated that Dumm's criticism upset her. Fech never worked as a flight attendant again after the ASA 529 disaster.

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