Emery Worldwide Flight 17

Introduction
Emery Worldwide Flight 17 was a cargo flight from Rancho Cordova to Dayton, Ohio. The flight crashed after takeoff due to an improperly repaired elevator.

Pilots
The flight crew consisted of Captain Kevin Stables, First Officer George Land and Flight Engineer Russell Hicks, who all fought with the plane to try and get it safely on the ground.

The Crash
The flight began as an average one for the airline. The checks had been done, and the flight was ready for take-off. But as the nose lifted off the ground, something strange happened. The plane pitches much more steeply than the pilots anticipated. The uncommanded pitch is followed by a left bank, which the plane is doing on its own. The pilots try and fight their plane, and First Officer Land thinks he has the controls. The crew decides they need to turn back to the airport, and Captain Stables declares an emergency. The nose then drops down, and lifts back up again. It banks to the left as it does this, but the bank is fixed whenever the nose moves down. The process continues as the pilots try desperately to get their plane to level out. The left banks managed to get the plane in view of the runway, and the pilots continue to try and keep it in the air. But instead of moving towards it, the plane banks to the left, and its pitch moves down. The pilots, now with what feels like no control, try as hard as they can to keep the plane up, but it's no use. The plane crashes into a car dump, less than a mile from the runway.

Cause
It was found that the elevators on the DC-8 had been improperly repaired, resulting in the elevator changing pitch on it's own.

CVR Transcript
C - Captain Kevin Stables

O - First Officer George Land

E - First Engineer Russel Hicks

S - System/Plane Alerts

A - Air Traffic Control

T - Sacramento TRACON

19:48:24 E - Four spooled.

19:48:40 C - Set reduced.

19:48:44 C - Airspeed's alive.

19:48:44 O - Alive here.

19:48:50 C - Eighty knots.

19:48:53 O - Elevator checks.

19:49:02 C - V1.

19:49:06 C - Rotate.

19:49:09 C - Watch the tail.

19:49:13 C - V2.

19:49:14 C - Positive rate.

19:49:16 O - I got it.

19:49:17 C - You got it?

19:49:17 O - Yep.

19:49:18 C - All right.

19:49:19 O - We're going back.

19:49:20 E - What the ****?

19:49:20 O - CG's waay out of limits.

19:49:25 E - ****. Do you want to pull the power back?

19:49:30 O - Oh ****.

19:49:30 C - Push forward.

19:49:36 C - Emery 17 emergency.

19:49:38 O - Ahhh ****.

19:49:40 T - Emery 17 Sacramento Departure Radar Contact say again?

19:49:40 O - You steer. I'm pushing.

19:49:44 C - Emery 17 has an emergency.

19:49:44 E - We're sinking. We're going down guys!

19:49:46 A - Emery 17 go ahead.

19:49:47 E - Power.

19:49:52 C - All right, all right, all right.

19:49:54 O - Push.

19:49:54 E - Okay so... we're going back up.

19:49:57 E - There you go.

19:49:58 C - Roll out!

19:50:04 C - Emery 17 extreme CG problem.

19:50:06 T - Emery 17 Roger.

19:50:11 C - Roll out to the right.

19:50:12 O - Okay.

19:50:15 O - Push.

19:50:18 O - Awww...

19:50:26 E - You got the trim maxed?

19:50:28 O - Power.

19:50:28 E - More?

19:50:29 O - Yeah.

19:50:32 O - We're gonna have to land fast.

19:50:36 C - Yeah.

19:50:36 O - Okay.

19:50:37 O - What I'm trying to do is make the airplane's position match the elevator. That's why I'm putting it in a bank.

19:50:45 C - All right.

19:50:45 O - Okay.

19:50:46 C - Left turn.

19:50:46 O - So we're gonna have to land it in like a turn.

19:50:47 C - Bring it around.

19:50:49 O - God ****!

19:50:54 O - You got the airport?

19:50:56 C - Bring it around!

19:51:00 O - Power.

19:51:07 O - Power!

19:51:07 O - Aww ****!

19:51:08 *Impact*

* End of recording*

May the 3 crew members who lost their lives that day rest in peace.