Galaxy Airlines Flight 203

Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 was a non-scheduled charter flight of a Lockheed L-188A Electra from Reno to Minneapolis which crashed shortly after taking off from Reno-Tahoe International Airport on 21 January 1985. All but 1 of the 71 on board died. It was the first major air disaster in the U.S in 1985 and the deadliest since the crash of Pan Am Flight 759 in 1982.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the crash was mainly caused by pilot error. While taking off from Reno, the aircraft suffered significant vibrations, which happened due to error by the ground crew. The pilots mistakenly thought that the vibrations were caused by a faulty engine and thus tried to recover by reducing the power of all of the aircraft's four engines. This significantly lowered the lift forces, causing the aircraft to stall and crash onto the ground.

Flight

The aircraft had been chartered by Caesars Tahoe for a three-day gambling and Super Bowl party trip at Caesar's Casino in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The group had arrived in Reno on January 18 and some decided to continue their journey to Stanford, California to watch the match between San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins, while the remainder stayed at Lake Tahoe. They eventually regrouped on January 20 for a return flight to Minneapolis.

Prior to the aircraft's arrival in Reno, an Eastern Airlines pilot, who had been following the Electra from behind during its taxi run in Oakland, commented that the crew of the Electra should take a closer look on the aircraft's left engine, which had been emitting smoke and leaking some fluids. The crew acknowledged the message and took the aircraft for a brief check. The inspection found nothing unusual and the ground crew decided to put the aircraft back into service.

Following a three-hour delay in Oakland, the aircraft arrived late in Reno. As the aircraft came to a complete stop, the awaiting passengers were brought onto the apron by vans. While loading the passengers and cargo, the flight engineer came out of the aircraft and took part in the loading, instructing the ground handler to load approximately 67 pieces of luggage to the aft compartment, as the forward cargo had been filled with the crew's belongings and galley stores.

Meanwhile, in the cockpit, the pilots were visibly anxious and tried to rush through the required flight checklists, apparently due to their late arrival in Reno. Several of the checklists were not called out in the correct order, and the pre-departure briefing was abandoned altogether. Captain Heasley, known for being very punctual, was believed to have been angry at the time, since the flight was already three-hours late from its assigned time.

After receiving clearance from the ground crew, the pilots started the engines and began the taxi. The aircraft was brought to its take-off configuration and the take-off checklist was read out loud. At 01:01 a.m local time, Flight 203 received their clearance for take-off to Minneapolis.

Crash

Seconds after feeling the vibrations, the pilots pulled back the engine power, causing the airspeed to decrease. The shaking, however, continued. They attempted to return to Reno but they kept losing airspeed and altitude. The aircraft began to descend in a nose-high attitude. As the descent rate increased, the pilots elected to add power to the engines again. With the aircraft nearing the ground, the ground proximity warning system activated.

As the aircraft continued to lose altitude, a crew member turned on the PA system, announcing "We are going to crash". Panic set in and passengers began to scream as the ground drew nearer. Meanwhile, the pilots tried to arrest the descend by increasing the engine's thrust, but the aircraft kept descending.

At 01:04 local time, with a speed of 105 knots and nose-high condition, the aircraft crashed onto Reno Field just short of the city's South Virginia Street, approximately 1.5 mi from the end of the runway. The front part was obliterated by the impact, the central portion broke up and ruptured the main fuel tanks, igniting the 2,300 gallons of fuels and causing the airframe to burst into flames. The wreckage slid and struck a furniture store and several parked RVs, worsening the fire and causing multiple explosions.