ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 727-235 N4737 New Orleans International Airport, LA (MSY)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Friday 9 July 1982
Time:16:09
Type:Silhouette image of generic B722 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Boeing 727-235
Operator:Pan American World Airways (Pan Am)
Registration: N4737
MSN: 19457/518
First flight: 1968-01-24 (14 years 6 months)
Total airframe hrs:39253
Engines: 3 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B
Crew:Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
Passengers:Fatalities: 138 / Occupants: 138
Total:Fatalities: 145 / Occupants: 145
Ground casualties:Fatalities: 8
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:1,4 km (0.9 mls) E of New Orleans International Airport, LA (MSY) (   United States of America)
Phase: Initial climb (ICL)
Nature:Domestic Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:New Orleans International Airport, LA (MSY/KMSY), United States of America
Destination airport:Las Vegas-McCarran International Airport, NV (LAS/KLAS), United States of America
Flightnumber:PA759
Narrative:
Pan Am Flight 759 was a scheduled flight from Miami (MIA) to Las Vegas (LAS), with an en route stop at New Or1eans (MSY). At 15:58:48 Boeing 727 "Clipper Defiance" taxied from its gate at the New Orleans International Airport. Before leaving the gate, the flightcrew had received ATIS message Foxtrot which read in part "....time one eight five five Zulu, weather, two thousand five hundred scattered, two five thousand thin broken, visibility six miles in haze, temperature niner zero, wind two four zero at two, winds are calm altimeter three zero zero one..."
The flightcrew requested runway 10 for the takeoff and ground control cleared the flight to taxi to runway 10. At 15:59:03, the first officer requested a wind check. Winds were 040 degrees at 8 knots. At 16:02:34, while Flight 759 was taxiing to runway 10, the crew heard a transmission from ground control, advising another airplane of low level wind shear alerts in the northeast quadrants of the airport.
At 16:03:33, the first officer requested another wind check. Ground control replied, "Wind now zero seven zero degrees at one seven... peak gusts two three, and we have low level wind shear alerts all quadrants, appears to be a frontal passing overhead right now, we're right in the middle of everything." The captain then advised the first officer to "...let your airspeed build up on takeoff..." and said that they would turn off the air conditioning packs for the takeoff, which would enable them to increase the EPR's on engines Nos. 1 and 3 to 1.92.
The flightcrew completed the takeoff and departure briefings and turned onto the active runway for takeoff. At l6:06:22, Flight 759 informed the tower that it was ready for takeoff. The local rontroller cleared the flight for takeoff, and the first officer acknowledged the clearance.
About 16:07:57, the Boeing 727 began its takeoff. According to witnesses, the airplane lifted off about 7,000 feet down runway 10, climbed in a wings-level attitude, reached an altitude of about 100 feet to 150 feet above the ground (AGL), and then began to descend towards trees. The airplane crashed into a residential area and was destroyed during the impact, explosion, and subsequent ground fire. Eight persons on the ground were killed.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The airplane's encounter during the lift-off and initial climb phase of flight with a micro-burst induced windshear which imposed a downdraft and a decreasing headwind, the effects of which the pilot would have had difficulty recognizing and reacting to in time for the airplane's descent to be arrested before its impact with trees. Contributing to the accident was the limited capability of current ground based low level windshear detection technology to provide definitive guidance for controllers and pilots for use in avoiding low level wind shear encounters."

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: NTSB
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 255 days (9 months)
Accident number: NTSB/AAR-83-02
Download report: Final report

Classification:
Windshear/downdraft

Loss of control

Sources:
» NTSB-AAR-83/02


Follow-up / safety actions

NTSB issued 20 Safety Recommendations

Show all...

Photos

photo of Boeing-727-235-N4737
accident date: 09-07-1982
type: Boeing 727-235
registration: N4737
 

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from New Orleans International Airport, LA to Las Vegas-McCarran International Airport, NV as the crow flies is 2394 km (1496 miles).
Accident location: Exact; deduced from official accident report.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Boeing 727

  • 1832 built
  • 38th loss
  • 32nd fatal accident
  • 3rd worst accident (at the time)
  • 5th worst accident (currently)
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 United States of America
  • 2nd worst accident (at the time)
  • 8th worst accident (currently)
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