Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight between Washington, D.C. and Newport News, Virginia, United States, with three stop-overs, two in Connecticut and a third in Pennsylvania. On June 7, 1971, the Allegheny Airlines Convair CV-580 operating the flight crashed on approach to Tweed New Haven Regional Airport, New Haven County, Connecticut.
The accident was notable in that all but one person survived the initial impact, however 27 people died in the subsequent fire, after failing to open the emergency exit. Only the first officer and 2 passengers survived. Poor visibility in the cabin, a lack of emergency lighting, unclear emergency door instructions, and a lack of additional crew personnel to assist in evacuation were all cited as factors in the high death toll.
Aircraft and crew
The accident aircraft was a Convair 440 manufactured in 1956. It was purchased by Allegheny Airlines in 1962 from another airline. The aircraft was modified to an Allison Prop Jet Convair CV-580 in 1967. The aircraft's most recent airworthiness certificate was issued in November 1967.
The crew on the accident flight consisted of Captain David Gordon Eastridge, aged 39, and First Officer James Alford Walker, aged 34. The captain had over 12,000 hours of total flight time, including an estimated 3,600 hours in the Convair CV-580. First Officer Walker had over 4,000 hours of total flight time. The flight attendant was Judith L. Manning, aged 27.
Accident
The flight departed Washington D.C. at 7:14 a.m. on an IFR flight plan. Five minutes later, at 7:19 a.m., the crew cancelled the IFR plan, and proceeded directly to New London via visual flight rules. The weather around the airport was foggy, with poor visibility. When approaching Groton-New London Airport, the crew made three missed approaches before successfully landing, approximately one hour behind schedule. Twelve passengers disembarked at Groton. The flight took on 14 new passengers, as well as cargo. The flight departed the gate at approximately 9:33 a.m., bound for New Haven.
At 9:48 a.m., the Tweed New Haven Regional Airport tower controller gave the flight a choice of either Runway 2 or Runway 20 for landing. Flight 485 responded: "O.K., the way it looks we will take two. It will be all right." The flight was cleared for a downwind landing on Runway 2. As noted in the NTSB accident report, downwind landings at Tweed New Haven Regional Airport were prohibited by an Allegheny Airlines company directive. The first officer called out airspeed and descent rate as the flight descended past the minimum descent height of 380 feet, which was verbally acknowledged by the captain, who then told the first officer to "keep a sharp eye out here." Approximately 18 seconds later, with the aircraft still descending, the first officer remarked: "You can't see down through this stuff." The captain responded that he could see the water. The first officer exclaimed that they were "right over the water." No apparent attempt to stop the descent was made. Approximately 3.5 seconds after the first officer's remark, an abrupt voice said "Hold it." The recording ended approximately 2 seconds later.
According to the NTSB accident report, the aircraft struck three adjoining beach cottages at an altitude of approximately 29 feet m.s.l. The local controller noted a fireball and smoke at approximately 9:50 a.m. According to the accident report: "Fire developed immediately upon initial impact."
Investigation
Captain Eastridge's decisions
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board analysed the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) for information as to the cause of the accident, and found it was likely Captain Eastridge made several decisions during the course of the flight which indicated the time of the journey was important to him. Prior to take-off from Washington D.C., Eastridge requested an amended flight plan from the Allegheny Airlines flight dispatcher. He asked the dispatcher to remove the planned refuelling at Groton from the flight itinerary, and asked ground crews at Washington D.C. to add more fuel to the aircraft. Investigators found this decision was likely made in case poor weather at the airport forced him to abandon a landing attempt and proceed directly to New Haven.