World Airways Flight 802

1973 plane crash in Alaska, United States

55°11′21″N 162°15′52″W / 55.1893°N 162.2645°W / 55.1893; -162.2645AircraftAircraft typeDouglas DC-8-63CFOperatorWorld AirwaysCall signWORLD 802RegistrationN802WAFlight originTravis AFB, California1st stopoverCold Bay Airport, AlaskaLast stopoverYokota AFB, JapanDestinationClark AFB, PhilippinesOccupants6Passengers3Crew3Fatalities6Survivors0

On September 8, 1973, a Douglas DC-8 operated by World Airways as World Airways Flight 802 crashed on high ground while on approach to Cold Bay Airport, Alaska, killing all six people on board.^[1]

The official accident investigation concluded that the probable cause was the captain's non-adherence to published instrument approach procedures for the destination airport.

History of the flight

Flight 802 was a contract cargo flight for the US Military Airlift Command from Travis AFB, California, to Clark AFB, Philippines; Cold Bay was the first planned stopover. The flight crew consisted of Captain John A. Weininger (52), First Officer Gregg W. Evans (27), and Flight Engineer Robert W. Brocklesby (46), while on board were also three non-revenue passengers, including two company employees.

The aircraft operating flight 802 was a four-engine Douglas DC-8-63CF jetliner, registration N802WA,^[2] which had entered service two years earlier, in 1971. Maintenance records for the aircraft did not highlight any significant problem.^[3]

Final descent and crash

After an uneventful flight from Travis, the aircraft descended in cloud towards Cold Bay Airport, straying significantly off-course and into an area of poor radio navigation reception, until at 05:42 AKDT it struck Mount Dutton at an altitude of 3,500 ft (1,100 m).^[3]

References

^ "Crashed jet found; crew dead". Chicago Tribune. September 10, 1973. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
^ "FAA Registry (N802WA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
^ ^a ^b Aircraft Accident Report, World Airways, Inc., DC-8-63F, N802WA, King Cove, Alaska, September 8, 1973 (PDF) (Report). National Transportation Safety Board. May 8, 1974. NTSB-AAR-74-6. Retrieved 11 November 2016. - Copy at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1973 (1973)

Jan 21

Aeroflot Flight 6263

Jan 22

Kano Nigeria Airways Boeing 707 crash

Jan 29

EgyptAir Flight 741

Feb 19

Aeroflot Flight 141

Feb 21

Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114

Feb 24

Aeroflot Flight 630

Feb 26

DeKalb–Peachtree Airport Learjet 24 crash

Mar 3

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307

Mar 5

Nantes mid-air collision

Apr 10

Invicta International Airlines Flight 435

Apr 23

Aeroflot Flight 2420

May 11

Aeroflot Flight 6551

May 18

Aeroflot Flight 109

May 30

SAM Colombia Flight 601

May 31

Indian Airlines Flight 440

Jun 3

Paris Air Show Tu-144 crash

Jun 10

Nepal plane hijacking

Jun 20

Aeroméxico Flight 229

Jul 11

Varig Flight 820

Jul 22

Pan Am Flight 816

Jul 23

Japan Air Lines Flight 404

Jul 23

Ozark Air Lines Flight 809

Jul 31

Delta Air Lines Flight 723

Aug 13

Aviaco Flight 118

Aug 18

Aeroflot Flight A-13

Aug 28

TWA Flight 742

Sep 8

World Airways Flight 802

Sep 11

JAT Flight 769

Sep 27

Texas International Airlines Flight 655

Sep 30

Oct 13

Nov 2

Nov 3

Nov 3

National Airlines Flight 27

Nov 21

US Navy C-117D Sólheimasandur Crash

Nov 23

Italian Air Force C-47 Argo 16 crash

Nov 25

KLM Flight 861

Dec 16

Aeroflot Flight 2022

Dec 17

Iberia Flight 933

Dec 17

Pan Am Fl. 110, Lufthansa Fl. 303 hijacking

Dec 22

Royal Air Maroc Caravelle crash

1972 ◄ ► 1974

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1970s
1970	Cornfield Bomber Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320 Trans International Airlines Flight 863 Wichita State University football team plane crash Southern Airways Flight 932 Capitol International Airways Flight C2C3/26
1971	B-52C Lake Michigan crash Colorado Aviation Aero Commander 680 crash Hughes Airwest Flight 706 Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 Pan Am Flight 845 Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 (see D. B. Cooper)
1972	Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570 American Airlines Flight 96 Prinair Flight 191 Lake Winnebago mid-air collision Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710 Delta Air Lines Flight 841 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident Southern Airways Flight 49 United Air Lines Flight 553 Chicago–O'Hare runway collision Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash
1973	DeKalb–Peachtree Airport Learjet crash Ozark Air Lines Flight 809 Delta Air Lines Flight 723 TWA Flight 742 World Airways Flight 802 Texas International Airlines Flight 655 Pan Am Flight 160 National Airlines Flight 27 Iberia Flight 933
1974	Commonwealth Commuter Flight 317 Pan Am Flight 806 Delta Air Lines Flight 523 Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 TWA Flight 514 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231
1975	Golden West Airlines Flight 261 Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 Wien Air Alaska Flight 99 Overseas National Airways Flight 032
1976	Alaska Airlines Flight 60 American Airlines Flight 625 Air Manila Flight 702 TWA Flight 355
1977	Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045 Southern Airways Flight 242 Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 Encino helicopter crash Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash Air Indiana Flight 216 United Airlines Flight 2860 Vieques Air Link crash
1978	Continental Airlines Flight 603 United Airlines Flight 696 National Airlines Flight 193 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 Air Caribbean Flight 309 TWA Flight 541 United Airlines Flight 173
1979	TWA Flight 841 American Airlines Flight 191 Downeast Airlines Flight 46 Air New England Flight 248 American Airlines Flight 293 American Airlines Flight 444
This list is incomplete. ALM Flight 980 ditched in waters near St. Croix. Flying Tiger Line Flight 45 occurred in the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands