American Airlines Flight 191

Introduction
American Airlines Flight 191 was a passenger aircraft carrying 271 people. It was a flight from Chicago to LA. The plane crashed a minute after take-off, as Engine 1 fell off and onto the runway, leading to a loss of control. It is the worst plane crash in american history (excluding 9/11).

Pilots
Captain Walter Lux was the captain in charge. he wouldn't have been flying this aircraft, but after being asked by another pilot to take it, he accepts the offer. By now, we can see that this was a mistake that cost him his life. He has First Officer James Dillard with him, and Flight Engineer Alfred Udovich.

Take-off
191 is told to take off from runway 32R. The plane then begins to take off.

A few seconds after rotation (taking-off), all engine power from engine 1 is lost. This is because engine 1 is now sat on runway 32R, the aircraft flying away from it. Dillard exclaims 'Damn!' when power is lost and the plane begins to tilt. Little do they now that right at that moment both the FDR (Flight Data Recorder) and CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) are now de-activated. They cannot land the plane, they have reached V-1 and will go off the runway if they try. The DC-10 can fly on 2 engines, so the pilots attempt to straighten the aircraft using the rudder. It is successful. They slow the plane down a bit to slow the load on the remaining engines.

The Crash
ATC (Air Traffic Control) decide they need to try and get this plane back on the ground, as they can see the lost engine. They don't reply, but instead keep flying as they are climbing normally.

Then, the plane immediately banks to the left again, at almost 90 degrees. The plane is now beginning to fall, and heading towards a trailer park, home to many people. The plane stalls and smashes into the ground sideways, just a little short of the trailer park. No one survives.

What Happened
8 weeks before the flight, the plane went into maintenance. As well as the normal checks that were done on the DC-10, they also replace bearings, which attach the engine to the wing. McDonnell Douglas recommended that the engine is removed first, before removing the pylon that connects it. But American Airlines have a shortcut to get them both out at the same time. It uses a forklift and saves lots of time and money. Using the forklift can cause damage, and this is what happened to 191. The forklift has to line it up just right to get it off, without causing the engine to rock and hit the wing, damaging the connectors. Investigators believe that AA were not aware of this. Marks on the plane show that the wing was damaged, which created a crack, which resulted in the plane losing the engine.

But the plane can still fly on 2 engines, so why did it bank to the left and stall?

The Final Piece
When the engine came off, not only did it flip above the wing, but it also damaged it. The damage destroys the hydraulic lines that connect to the left wing. This causes the slats (which increase lift) to come back in. This reduces lift on the left wing, resulting in the left bank. But not only did the DC-10 have a back-up hydraulic system that could put the slats back out, the pilots were not alerted of the slats retracting. The reason why this didn't happen is because the left engine was powering not only the FDR and CVR, but also the slats alert system. Meaning no one knows that the slats are retracted. But still the aircraft could have been flyable even in that situation. The one reason why it wasn't however, was because the plane could not fly at the speed of V2, which is what the plane was flying at to reducing stress on the remaining engines. An animation can be seen on right, showing what happened.

More Information From Database
May the people who died in this fateful crash rest in peace.