Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105

Midwest Express Flight 105

A Midwest Express Airlines Douglas DC-9 similar to the aircraft involved in the crash.
Accident summary
Date	6 September 1985
Summary	EFTO (engine failure on take-off), leading to pilot error
Site	Milwaukee, Wisconsin United States
Passengers	27
Crew	4
Fatalities	31 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-9-14
Operator	Midwest Express Airlines
Registration	N100ME
Flight origin	General Mitchell Int'l Airport Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Destination	Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Int'l Airport

Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105, a Douglas DC-9-14, crashed just after takeoff on 6 September 1985 from General Mitchell Airport, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, en route to Hartsfield International in Atlanta. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and the post-crash fire. The pilot, the first officer, both flight attendants, and all 27 passengers were killed.

The National Transportation Safety Board evaluated the performance characteristics of the DC-9-14 airplane following an abrupt loss of power from the right engine in the takeoff phase of flight and found the airplane to be docile, easily controllable, and requiring no unusual pilot skills or strength. Therefore, the Safety Board examined those factors which might have caused the pilots to lose control, including the possibility that fragments of the right engine separated with sufficient energy and trajectory to cause critical damage to the airplane's flight control system; the possibility of control system malfunction, which could have rendered the airplane uncontrollable; and the possibility of inappropriate flightcrew response to the emergency.

The cause was determined to be a pilot error in handling the aircraft after the right engine suffered a catastrophic failure. The introduction of incorrect rudder pedal forces about 4 to 5 seconds after the right engine failure, followed by aft control column forces, allowed the airplane to stall at a high airspeed, which led to loss of control of the aircraft and its subsequent crash. This accident was the only fatal incident in Midwest's entire history prior to the airline being acquired by Frontier Airlines in 2010.

See also

• Lists of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
• Air safety

External links

• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
• NTSB accident report