Air Transport International Flight 805

Air Transport International Flight 805 was a regularly scheduled domestic cargo flight from Seattle to Toledo operated by Burlington Air Express. On February 15, 1992, the Douglas DC-8 operating the flight crashed during a second go-around attempt at Toledo Express Airport, killing all four people on board. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the accident was caused by pilot error due to the aircraft's control not being maintained.

Accident

Flight 805 departed from Seattle on-time at 21:45 Eastern Standard Time (EST). First officer Hupp was the pilot flying. The flight was uneventful until it approached Toledo. Flight 805 was cleared for an ILS approach to runway 07 with the controller advising the crew about light to moderate precipitation. At 03:02, Flight 805 was cleared to land, and captain Baker acknowledged the transmission. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) then recorded the flight crew going over the landing checklist. After this however, captain Baker started complaining to first officer Hupp that he was flying too slow with the flaps not having been extended into the landing configuration. He even told him, "You're not even on the [expletive] localizer at all." In other words, the aircraft had failed to capture the localizer and was below the glide path, resulting in an unstable approach. Baker subsequently declared a go-around at 03:13.

When the approach controller asked Flight 805 on why they initiated go-around, captain Baker responded, "We lost the localizer close in there...couldn't position ourselves on final...we had the glidepath, but not the localizer." The approach controller gave Flight 805 a 100 degree heading for another approach.

During the second approach the aircraft managed to capture the localizer, with captain Baker advising first officer Hupp about the wind conditions. At 03:21, Flight 805 was again cleared to land on runway 07. However, the approach became destabilized again, with the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) sounding three "glideslope" warnings and three "sink rate" warnings. There were also three changes in power. At 03:24, Baker told Hupp that he was taking over control of the aircraft and initiated another go-around.

At 03:25, first officer Hupp reported the go-around to the tower controller and was instructed to climb and maintain 3000 ft and then turn left onto a 300 degree heading. However, the aircraft began to bank 80 degrees and pitch up 25 degrees. Captain Baker transferred control of the aircraft back to first officer Hupp and asked him if he had the control, to which he responded, "I got it." Hupp then attempted to raise the aircraft's nose and level the wings, but was unable to recover control. At 03:26 the aircraft crashed into the ground 3 mi away from runway 07. All four people on board were killed instantly, and the aircraft was destroyed. Parts of the aircraft landed in the backyard of a house. No one on the ground was killed, but thirteen people on the ground were injured; one person in the house that the debris landed near was injured by falling plaster caused by the force of the impact, and 12 firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation.