by Bill Adair
I also interviewed emergency workers in Hopewell Township, FAA officials, Brett’s friends and relatives, the NTSB investigators on Haueter’s team, the NTSB board members (except for John Hammerschmidt, who declined to be interviewed), USAir employees, Boeing engineers and test pilots, and Roxie Laybourne, the Smithsonian feather expert. (See list below.)
I was present for many of the scenes in the book, including both public hearings, Chairman Jim Hall’s ride in the M-Cab simulator, a portion of the “fat guy” tests, and the final meeting in March 1999. I was able to write about several other scenes—including Joan’s memorial service, the first anniversary ceremony, and the recovery of passenger belongings from the trash bins in March 1995—thanks to videotapes that were recorded by family members or friends.
Other scenes are reconstructed based on the recollections of the main characters. When possible, I verified their accounts with others. During that process, I discovered that Haueter, Cox, and Brett each had a remarkably accurate memory and a keen eye for detail. In addition to the interviews, I relied heavily on transcripts of the public hearings and the NTSB’s huge docket on the crash, which includes more than 10,000 pages of investigative reports and documents from USAir and Boeing. Depositions from the Chicago court file provided details about the scene aboard Ship 513 when Andrew McKenna heard the gurgling sound and the scene at O’Hare before the plane departed for Pittsburgh.
I relied on the excellent coverage in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for details about the days immediately following the crash and on the Palm Bench Post for the profile of Paul Olson, the convicted drug dealer on the plane. I also relied on the New York Times cover-age of Orville Wright’s crash in 1908 and the Knute Rockne crash in 1931.
The section on Boeing’s history and the development of the 737 is based on old memos in the company’s archives, and on two superb books: Legend and Legacy, by Robert Serling, and Plying High, by Eugene Rogers.
Interviews
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Tom Haueter, investigator-in-charge Trisha Dedik, Tom Haueter’s wife
Greg Phillips, systems group chairman
Jim Cash, cockpit voice recorder analyst
Malcolm Brenner, human factors specialist
Tom Jacky, aircraft performance specialist
NTSB managers
Bud Laynor, deputy director of aviation safety (until 1996)
Bernie Loeb, director of aviation safety, 1996–2001
Ron Schleede, deputy director of aviation safety, 1996–1999
Peter Goelz, managing director
John Clark, director of aviation safety, 2001–
Board members
Chairman Jim Hall Deb Smith, Jim Hall’s assistant
John Goglia
George Black
Robert Francis
Denise Daniels, Robert Francis’s special counsel
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA)
John Cox, systems group member and USAir pilot
Herb LeGrow, coordinator for USAir 427 investigation
Keith Hagy, manager of accident investigation
Bill Sorbie, chairman of central air safety committee/USAir
The Boeing Company
Jean McGrew, chief engineer for the 737
John Purvis, chief of air safety investigations
Rick Howes, air safety investigator and coordinator for USAir 427
Michael Hewett, flight test pilot
Michael Carriker, flight test pilot
Ed Kikta, hydraulics engineer
Jim Draxler, systems engineer and Ed Kikta’s boss
Jim Kerrigan, senior principal engineer
Mike Denton, 737 chief engineer (1997)
Jack Steiner, vice president (retired)
Martin Ingham, specialist engineer
Ragnar Nordvik, regional marketing director
Paul Martin, senior instructor pilot
USAir
Ralph C. Miller, manager of the Next-of-Kin Room
Deborah Thompson, director of consumer affairs
Dave Supplee, mechanic and accident investigator for the machinists union
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Vikki Anderson, accident investigator
Thomas McSweeny, director of aircraft certification
Steve O’Neal, flight test engineer
Ed Kittel, bomb expert
Ken Frey, systems engineer
Sharon Battle, operations center officer
David Canoles, director air traffic effectiveness
David Thomas, director of accident investigation
Bud Donner, manager of accident investigation
Les Berven, engineering test pilot
Dick Paul, engineering test pilot
Others
Brett Van Bortel
Bonnie Van Bortel, Brett’s mother
Mike Demetrio, Brett’s attorney
Brian Bishop, Eastwind Airlines pilot
Federico Pena, Secretary of Transportation
Wayne Tatalovich, Beaver County coroner
Russ Chiodo, Beaver County director of emergency operations
Captain James Rock, Hopewell Township volunteer firefighter
Fred David, Hopewell Township police chief
George David, owner of farm adjacent to crash site
Rudy Kapustin, former NTSB investigator
Nancy Edwards, coworker of Joan Van Bortel
Jen Brundage, friend of Joan Van Bortel
David Hause, deputy medical examiner, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Roxie Laybourne, feather expert, Smithsonian Institution
John Little, assistant security manager, Museum of Flight
John Kretz, executive director, Flight 427 Air Disaster Support League
Don Hunt, professor, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Michael Pangia, attorney
Ralph Vick, member of Expert Panel on Hydraulics
Articles and Books
Acohido, Byron. “Safety at Issue: The 737.” Seattle Times, reprint of Parts 1–5, October 27–31, 1996.
Associated Press. “USAir Passengers Cited Noise.” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 21, 1994.
Bayles, Fred, and Robert Davis. “Doubts Shadow Flight 427 ‘Party’ Inquiry.” USA Today, March 23, 1999.
Bean, Ed. “Damage Control: After 137 People Died in Its Texas Jet Crash, Delta Helped Families.” Wall Street Journal, November 7, 1986.
Beiden, Tom. “On the Ropes, USAir Takes the Offensive.” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 27, 1994.
——. “Timing Is Bad for an Airline in a Tailspin.” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 10, 1994.
Belko, Mark. “Crash Photos Available to Families.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 11, 1995.
——. “Mission of Mercy.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 16, 1994.
——. “Morgue Workers’ Somber Job at an End.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 8, 1994.
Brelis, Matthew. “In Pa., Seeking Clues amid Airliner’s Wreckage.” Boston Globe, September 10, 1994.
Bryant, Adam. “USAir Crash Investigators Rule Out More Causes.” New York Times, September 16, 1994.
——. “With Factors Ruled Out, USAir Crash Emerges as Puzzle.” New York Times, September 17, 1994.
“Conference Is Called on Rockne Air Crash.” New York Times, April 18, 1931.
Cooke, Patrick. “When Airplanes Crash, Flight Recorders Often Tell Why.” Air and Space, July 1988, 31–37.
Creedy, Steve. “Audit Deems USAir Safe, Revises Procedures.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 18, 1995.
——. “Schofield Retiring as Chief of USAir.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 7, 1995.
Cushman, John H., Jr. “Crash Investigators Broaden Their Inquiry.” New York Times, September 13, 1994.
Dockser, Amy. “Infidelity Becomes Factor in Wrongful-Death Suits.” Wall Street Journal, August 10, 1989.
Editorial. “Ice in the A
ir.” New York Times, April 9, 1931.
Ellicott, Val. “Air Crash Victim Had Built New Life.” Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, September 13, 1994.
“Fatal Fall of Wright Airship.” New York Times, September 18, 1908.
“Figures Show Flying Is Safer Than Standing Behind a Mule.” New York Times, January 3, 1927.
Frantz, Douglas, and Ralph Blumenthal. “Troubles at USAir: Coincidence or More?” New York Times, November 13, 1994.
Galvin, Thomas. “USAir May Nose-Dive After New Safety Shocker: Experts.” New York Post, November 14, 1994.
“Government Bans 35 Fokker Planes.” New York Times, May 3, 1931.
Haddigan, Michael. “Drug Informant Was on USAir Plane That Crashed.” Associated Press, September 15, 1994.
——. “No Plot Against Man Is Found in Fatal Crash.” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 16, 1994.
Hanchette, John. “Drug Defendant Not Linked to USAir Crash, Lawyer Says.” Gannett News Service, September 16, 1994.
——. “Witness on Doomed Plane Tied to Colombian Drug Trade.” Gannett News Service, September 15, 1994.
Harr, Jonathan. “The Crash Detectives.” New Yorker, August 5, 1996, 34–55.
“Jet Rolled, Plummeted.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 10, 1994.
Knowles, Robert G. “USAir May Face Wary Aviation Market.” National Underwriter, September 19, 1994.
“Knute Rockne Dies with Seven Others in Mail Plane Dive.” New York Times, April 1, 1931.
Kohn, Bernie. “Latest Accident Comes at Key Time for Carrier.” Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, September 9, 1994.
——. “USAir Stresses Safety, Admits Trust a Challenge.” Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, September 10, 1994.
Kolata, Gina. “When Is a Coincidence Too Bad to Be True?” New York Times, September 11, 1994.
Komons, Nick A. Bonfires to Beacons: Federal Civil Aviation Policy Under the Air Commerce Act, 1926–1938. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1978.
Langewiesche, Wolfgang. Stick and Rudder. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1944.
McDowell, Edwin. “737 Warning Draws a Shrug from Public.” New York Times, February 22, 1997.
McLeod, Douglas. “USAir Crash Should Not Lead to Aviation Rate Hikes.” Business Insurance, September 12, 1994.
Mossman, John. “Clues Sought in Flight 585 Crash That Claimed 25 Lives.” Associated Press, March 4, 1991.
“Orville Wright Is Not So Well.” New York Times, September 20, 1908.
Oster, Clinton V., Jr., John S. Strong, and C. Kurt Zorn. Why Airplanes Crash: Aviation Safety in a Changing World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Patterson, James. “The Drug Dealer on a Fatal Crash.” Indianapolis (Ind.) Star, December 17, 1994.
Petzinger, Thomas, Jr. Hard Landing: The Epic Contest for Power and Profits That Plunged the Airlines into Chaos. New York: Times Business/Random House, 1995.
Phillips, Don. “Panel to Seek Redesign of 737 Rudder.” Washington Post, April 16, 2000.
——. “Probe of Two Deadly Crashes Points to Rudders.” Washington Post, March 25, 1999.
Pomfret, John D. “Photos Said to Show Pilots Ignoring Duty.” New York Times, September 7, 1962.
Reyes, David, and Nancy Wride. “Anxious Relatives Frustrated at Lack of Crash Information.” Los Angeles Times, August 17, 1987, Metro.
“Rockne Air Crash Is Laid to Ice-Covered Wings.” New York Times, April 8, 1931.
“Rockne Air Crash Laid to Lost Wing.” New York Times, April 3, 1931.
Roddy, Dennis. “Officials Have First Hints on Why Flight 427 Went Down.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 11, 1994.
Rodgers, Eugene. Flying High: The Story of Boeing and the Rise of the Jetliner Industry. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1996.
Rodgers-Melnick, Ann, and Rebekah Scott. “Finding Solace in the Church Community.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 12, 1994.
Sammon, Bill. “Pittsburgh Stops to Mourn.” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 13, 1994.
Serling, Robert J. Legend and Legacy: The Story of Boeing and Its People. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992.
Shapiro, Stacy. “Aviation Market More Selective.” Business Insurance, October 31, 1994.
Smith, Matthew P. “Wake Still Top Suspect in Crash.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 9, 1994.
Steigerwald, Bill. “It Still Hurts; Survivors Group Works to Improve Airline Treatment.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 8, 1995.
Stewart, Stanley. Flying the Big Jets. 3rd ed. Stillwater, Minn.: Specialty Press, 1992.
Taylor, Alex, III. “Boeing Sleepy in Seattle.” Fortune, August 7, 1995, 92–98.
Twedt, Steve. “Jet’s Right Engine Parts Studied.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 12, 1994.
“Unable to Fathom Rockne Plane Crash.” New York Times, April 2, 1931.
Underwood, Anne, and Melinda Beck. “Unsolved Mystery.” Newsweek, September 11, 1995, 48–52.
United Press International. “Stewardesses Tell House Unit Pilots Let Them Fly Airliners.” New York Times, September 29, 1962.
Walsh, Lawrence. “Families of Flight 427 Victims Give Human Voice to Dry NTSB Inquiry.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 29, 1995.
——. “Sincerity Not Long Suit of Crash Suit Seekers.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 2, 1994.
——. “USAir Will Add Crash Notation to Monument.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 1, 1995.
Weir, Andrew. “Secrets of the Black Box.” Reader’s Digest, July 1997, 75–80.
“Wilbur Wright Shocked.” New York Times, September 19, 1908.
Wilson, John R. M. Turbulence Aloft: The Civil Aeronautics Administration amid Wars and Rumors of Wars, 1938–1953. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1979.
Wooton, Suzanne. “Like a Death in the Family.” Baltimore Sun, September 18, 1994.
Copyright
© 2002 Bill Adair
All rights reserved
Copy Editor: Jan McInroy
Production Editor: Ruth G. Thomson
Designer: Jody Billert
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Adair, Bill.
The mystery of Flight 427: inside a crash investigation / Bill Adair.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
eISBN: 978-1-58834-402-1
1. USAir Flight 427 Crash, 1994. 2. Aircraft accidents—Investigation—United States. 3. Aircraft accidents—Pennsylvania—Hopewell (Beaver County: Township) I. Title.
TL553.525.P4 A33 2002
363.12.465.0974892—dc21
2001049601
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication available
For permission to reproduce illustrations appearing in this book, please correspond directly with the owners of the works, as listed in the individual captions. Smithsonian Institution Press does not retain reproduction rights for these illustrations individually or maintain a file of addresses for photo sources.
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