Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Scary Landing

IIRC, it was the EPR (Exhaust Pressure Ratio) Due to the iced probe, the instrument reading told them they were getting takeoff thrust when in fact they were at much less. If they had just looked at the RPMs they might have immediately known something was off with the EPR. Instead, they waddled down the runway, lumbered into the air and stalled.

That may have been compounded by icing on the wings, but the root cause was probe ice and pilot fookupitude.

Air Disasters on the Smithsonian Channel did a show on the crash. Your link doesn't work but I was able to download the pdf.

The "down and locked light" for nose landing gear was burned out. Instead of switching bulbs the crew got engrossed in trouble shooting and knocked the auto pilot off. The "flight engineer" didn't know how to visually check the nose gear to confirm it was down and locked. The FAA suggested hiring professional flight engineers.

Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from New York JFK to Miami. Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar crashed into the Florida Everglades, causing 101 fatalities. The pilots and the flight engineer, two of 10 flight attendants, and 96 of 163 passengers died; 75 passengers and crew survived.

P-3s seemed to have more problems with runaway props than Herks. They have the same engines and basic props but different crew control.

Thanks. My memory was faulty.