Florida Air Flight 90

 

On January 13^th, 1982 at then Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan International Airport), Air Florida Flight 90 came in for a landing just before a snowstorm approached the D.C. area. The flight was the last to land before the airport shut down for a few hours due to the weather. When the airport reopened, de-icing was needed on the aircraft. De-icing is an absolutely crucial part of maintaining the safety of the aircraft during winter. The pilot stopped the de-icing procedure on the 737 before it was completed because the airport was closing.  When notification was received that the airport would be opening, the pilots decided to have the de-icing done again closer to the expected departure. After the second de-icing was done, a backlog of flights arriving and departing into National Airport caused a major traffic problem. The aircraft sat on the tarmac for an extended period of time resulting in the control surfaces of the aircraft get covered with snow again. In addition to the weather problems, the pilot was inexperienced flying in this type of weather. When departure time rolled around, the pilots were doing final checks before takeoff, and noticed instruments were not reading correct.  They still decided to depart! The pilots made some other crucial mistakes before departure such as not turning on the Anti-Ice system. This led to reduced lift and increased drag. The crash occurred only miles from the airport. The aircraft hit a bridge connecting Virginia to Washington D.C and went into the Potomac River. The result of weather, and pilot error, caused the death of 74 people. While there were many things that went wrong on the ground, the weather was a major implication of why this incident happened.          

Cloudberg, A. (2022, October 4). The Cold Laws of Winter: The crash of Air Florida flight 90. Medium. https://admiralcloudberg.medium.com/the-cold-laws-of-winter-the-crash-of-air-florida-flight-90-cdcba7847e0a