Air Transport International Flight 782
Air Transport International Limited Liability Douglas DC-8-63 · Loss of directional control on takeoff due to pilot error; improper training
From Kansas City International Airport (MCI) to Westover Metropolitan Airport / Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF)
Event
- NTSB case
- DCA95MA020
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Unknown
- Event fatalities
- 3 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- Occupants
- 3
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 0 serious · 0 minor (NTSB)
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Douglas DC-8-63
- Aircraft type
- Douglas DC-8
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N782AL
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Kansas City International Airport (MCI)To Westover Metropolitan Airport / Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF), WESTOVER AFB, MA
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Takeoff · roll/run
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control on ground/water
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Company/operator management › Inadequate training
- Flightcrew › Procedures/directives, not complied with
- Flightcrew › Procedures/directives, not understood
- Pilot in command › Aborted takeoff, not performed
- Pilot in command › Airspeed(vr), below
- Pilot in command › Directional control, not attained
- Pilot in command › Lift-off, premature
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
Air Transport International Flight 782 was a ferry flight from Kansas City International Airport in Missouri to Westover Metropolitan Airport in Springfield, Massachusetts using a Douglas DC-8 with one of its 4 engines inoperative. On February 16, 1995, the aircraft failed to take off from Kansas City, overran the runway, and crashed. All three flight crew members, the only occupants on board, were killed. The cause was deemed to be improper training, which resulted in the crew failing to understand a three-engine takeoff procedure. In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s oversight of rest regulations and the airline were both poor.
Accident
On the day of the accident, N782AL landed at Kansas City Airport after a scheduled cargo flight from Denver, Colorado. The aircraft was loaded with new cargo and prepared for a flight to Toledo, Ohio. The flight was intended to be operated by another crew, but they were unable to start the No. 1 (outer left) engine. Maintenance workers examined the engine and found that its gear ratio had failed. The repair could not be performed on-site, so ATI decided that the aircraft would perform a ferry flight to Westover Metropolitan Airport (CEF) in Chicopee, Massachusetts for repairs. Another ATI DC-8-63F with registration N788AL, flown by the accident crew, arrived from Germany via Dover, Delaware. The cargo and N782AL's original crew were transferred to N788AL and the accident crew were assigned to the ferry flight.
During engine startup, N782AL experienced engine problems for a second time. The No. 4 (outer right) engine initially failed to start as its ignition circuit breaker was accidentally left open. The breaker was closed and the crew began to start the No. 4 engine again, though this time, a ground crew worker told the flight crew that the engine was emitting smoke and the crew shut down the engine. The crew then followed the starter duty cycle and started the No. 2 engine. The crew then started the No. 4 engine a third time, this time without incident.
At 20:20 local time, Flight 782 began its first take-off roll from runway 01L. According to the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), the takeoff appeared normal. At 20:20:23, first officer Ulmer called out "hundred knots," only for captain Miga to say one second later, "ah [expletive]. Abort." The take-off was aborted, and the aircraft exited the runway. The tower controller instructed the flight to switch back to the ground control frequency and asked the crew if they needed assistance, to which they declined. Miga told the crew he had trouble with maintaining the aircraft's directional control during takeoff, saying, "it [the power on the No. 4 engine] just came up too fast is what it did." At 20:21 the flight crew decided to attempt a second takeoff.
At 20:27, Flight 782 began its second takeoff attempt. After traveling 3220 ft down the runway, the aircraft began to roll towards the left. At 3810 ft, the aircraft prematurely rotated and a tailstrike occurred, with the tail scraping the runway for 820 ft. Having used up 5200 ft of the runway, the DC-8 finally became airborne, only to climb to 98 ft. The aircraft then banked left, entered a stall and crashed into the ground. The aircraft skidded and broke apart, with the wreckage stopping after 7500 ft. The three flight crew members were killed.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) launched an investigation into the crash of Flight 782. The NTSB noted several events during captain Miga's training at American International Airways and ATI. One training captain wrote in a logbook that Miga "would make a good captain." However, another stated that Miga did "not exhibit the confidence and command authority necessary to function as a pilot in command. I do not recommend he be considered for an upgrade at this time."
Another check captain noted that Miga had good control of aircraft and cross-checking the instruments, but also recommended that Miga should only conduct domestic flights. Despite the recommendation, Miga continued to fly international flights, with an observer providing positive remarks during a flight to Germany on February 14, 1995, two days before the crash. Even though his simulator training on three-engine ferry flights was marked "satisfactory" and he had flown two previous three-engine ferry flights as a first officer, Flight 782 was Miga's first three-engine ferry flight as captain.
First officer Ulmer had failed three flight checks in 1989, 1992, and 1993, and received three notices of disapproval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). On all three occasions, Ulmer underwent retraining and passed on the second time.
Flight engineer Hardy had entered an incorrect minimum control speed of 107 kn instead of the required 116 kn using the Fahrenheit scale instead of Celsius. Further, the captain and first officer did not verify the speeds as required.
The NTSB determined that the accident was caused by the flight crew violating standard operating procedures by inappropriately deciding to continue takeoff when the aircraft was below the calculated rotation airspeed. ATI had provided improper training, which resulted in them failing to understand a three-engine takeoff procedure. The airline had also provided inadequate rest, resulting in the flight crew being fatigued at the time of the accident, though the NTSB could not conclude if it had degraded their performance. In addition, the FAA's oversight of rest regulations and the airline were both poor.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Air Transport International Flight 782” (revision 1363569452, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
NTSB narrative
THE AIRPLANE CRASHED IMMEDIATELY AFTER LIFTOFF DURING A THREE-ENGINE TAKEOFF. FLIGHTCREW HAD SHORTENED REST BREAK; REST PERIODS NOT REQUIRED FOR FERRY FLIGHTS. FLIGHTCREW FATIGUED FROM LACK OF REST, SLEEP, AND DISRUPTION OF CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS. FLIGHTCREW DID NOT HAVE ADEQUATE, REALISTIC TRAINING IN THREE-ENGINE TAKEOFF TECHNIQUES OR PROCEDURES. FLIGHTCREW DID NOT ADEQUATELY UNDERSTAND THREE-ENGINE TAKEOFF PROCEDURES, INCLUDING SIGNIFICANCE OF VMCG. FLIGHT ENGINEER IMPROPERLY DETERMINED VMCG SPEED, RESULTING IN VALUE 9 KNOTS TOO LOW. DURING FIRST TAKEOFF ATTEMPT, CAPTAIN APPLIED POWER TO ASYMMETRICAL ENGINE TOO SOON, WAS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL, AND REJECTED THE TAKEOFF. CAPTAIN AGREED TO MODIFY PROCEDURE BY ALLOWING FLIGHT ENGINEER TO ADVANCE THROTTLE, A DEVIATION OF PRESCRIBED PROCEDURE. FAA OVERSIGHT OF OPERATOR WAS INADEQUATE BECAUSE THE POI AND GEOGRAPHIC INSPECTORS WERE UNABLE TO EFFECTIVELY MONITOR DOMESTIC CREW TRAINING AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS. EXISTING FAR PART 121 FLIGHT TIME LIMITS & REST REQUIREMENTS THAT PERTAINED TO THE FLIGHTS THAT THE FLIGHTCREW FLEW PRIOR TO THE FERRY FLIGHTS DID NOT APPLY TO THE FERRY FLIGHTS FLOWN UNDER FAR PART 91. CURRENT ONE-ENGINE INOPERATIVE TAKEOFF PROCEDURES DO NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE RUDDER AVAILABILITY FOR CORRECTING DIRECTIONAL DEVIATIONS DURING THE TAKEOFF ROLL COMPATIBLE WITH THE ACHIEVEMENT OF MAXIMUM ASYMMETRIC THRUST AT AN APPROPRIATE SPEED GREATER THAN GROUND MINIMUM CONTROL SPEED.
Probable cause
(1) THE LOSS OF DIRECTIONAL CONTROL BY THE PILOT IN COMMAND DURING THE TAKEOFF ROLL, AND HIS DECISION TO CONTINUE THE TAKEOFF AND INITIATE A ROTATION BELOW THE COMPUTED ROTATION AIRSPEED, RESULTING IN A PREMATURE LIFTOFF, FURTHER LOSS OF CONTROL AND COLLISION WITH THE TERRAIN. (2) THE FLIGHTCREW'S LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE THREE-ENGINE TAKEOFF PROCEDURES, AND THEIR DECISION TO MODIFY THOSE PROCEDURES. (3) THE FAILURE OF THE COMPANY TO ENSURE THAT THE FLIGHTCREW HAD ADEQUATE EXPERIENCE, TRAINING, AND REST TO CONDUCT THE NONROUTINE FLIGHT. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE INADEQUACY OF FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION OVERSIGHT OF AIR TRANSPORT INTERNATIONAL AND FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION FLIGHT AND DUTY TIME REGULATIONS THAT PERMITTED A SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED FLIGHTCREW REST PERIOD WHEN CONDUCTING A NONREVENUE FERRY FLIGHT UNDER 14 CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS PART 91. (NTSB REPORT AAR-95/06)
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
Wikipedia article: Air Transport International Flight 782
- Revision
- 1363569452 · 2026-07-11 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q97889572
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
NTSB record DCA95MA020
- Event ID
- 20001207X02949
- Case number
- DCA95MA020
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Air Transport International Flight 782" (page 66732073, revision 1363569452); merged with NTSB case DCA95MA020 (events / aircraft)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date (local date; NTSB record DCA95MA020 stores the UTC date 1995-02-17)
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site; country from NTSB record DCA95MA020
- Map position
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- NTSB record DCA95MA020: aircraft; gaps from Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- NTSB record DCA95MA020: operated under Part 91: General Aviation
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities (the NTSB record states no total)
- Ground fatalities
- NTSB record DCA95MA020: events.inj_f_grnd
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (2)
- One occurrence in two sources, merged: the Wikipedia article "Air Transport International Flight 782" and NTSB case DCA95MA020, matched by the same aircraft registration and date. For this US event the NTSB's values are used where the two differ; each value names its source.
- The NTSB record dates it 1995-02-17, the UTC date it stores; the local date, 1995-02-16, is the Wikipedia article's and is used.