Pan Am Flight 759

Pan Am Flight 759 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight from Miami to San Diego, with en route stops in New Orleans and Las Vegas. On July 9, 1982, the Boeing 727 flying this route crashed in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner after being forced down by a microburst shortly after takeoff. All 145 on board, as well as eight people on the ground, were killed.

Accident

The weather forecast issued at 07:40 on July 9 by the New Orleans National Meteorological Center contained thunderstorms, possible severe turbulence, icing, and wind shear. The weather chart at 18:00 local time identified a high pressure system located 60 nmi off the Louisiana coast. No fronts or low pressure areas were within 100 nmi of the airport. The forecast between 1200 and 2200 indicated "scattered clouds, variable to broken clouds at 3000 ft, thunderstorms, and moderate rain showers." According to the NWS (National Weather Service), there were no severe weather warnings for the time and area of the accident.

Flight 759 began its takeoff from Runway 10 at the New Orleans International Airport (now Louis Armstrong New Orleans International), in Kenner, Louisiana at 16:07:57 central daylight time, bound for Las Vegas, Nevada. At the time of Flight 759's takeoff, there were thunderstorms over the east of the airport and east-northeast of the departure end of runway 10. The winds were reported to be "gusty and swirling." First Officer Pierce was the pilot flying and Captain McCullers was the pilot monitoring, as recorded on the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder (CVR):

Flight 759 lifted off the runway, climbed to an altitude of between 95 and 150 ft, and then began to descend. About 2376 ft from the end of runway, the aircraft struck a line of trees at an altitude of about 50 ft. The aircraft continued descending for another 2234 ft, hitting trees and houses. At 16:09:01, the aircraft crashed into the residential area of Kenner, about 4610 ft from the end of the runway. Flight 759 initially struck a house at 1624 Fairway Street, destroying it. The plane broke apart as it went across two and a half blocks, tearing diagonally across Hudson Street, 17th Street, and Taylor Street.

The aircraft was destroyed by the impact, explosion, and subsequent ground fire. A total of 153 people were killed (all 145 passengers and crew on board and 8 on the ground). Another four people on the ground sustained injuries. In one of the destroyed houses, a 16-month-old baby girl was discovered in a crib covered with debris that protected her from the flames, sustaining only minor burns. The child's mother and 4-year-old sister were killed; the father was at work when the accident occurred. In all, six houses were demolished, while five houses sustained significant damage. Most of the homes have since been rebuilt.