Mohawk Airlines Flight 411

Mohawk Airlines Flight 411
	Mohawk Fairchild Hiller FH-227 turboprop, similar to accident aircraft
Accident
Date	November 19, 1969
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
Site	Pilot Knob Mountain, Town of Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, USA ; 43°29′33.92″N73°36′41.32″W / 43.4927556°N 73.6114778°W
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Fairchild FH-227B
Operator	Mohawk Airlines
IATA flight No.	MO411
Call sign	MOHAWK 411
Registration	N7811M
Flight origin	Albany Airport, Albany, New York
Destination	Warren County Airport, Glen Falls, New York
Occupants	14
Passengers	11
Crew	3
Fatalities	14
Survivors	0

Last updated October 31, 2023

Mohawk Airlines Flight 411, a Fairchild FH-227B twin-engine turboprop, registered N7811M, was a scheduled domestic passenger service operated by Mohawk Airlines, between Albany and Glens Falls, New York. On November 19, 1969, it crashed into Pilot Knob Mountain, killing all 14 passengers and crew on board.^[1]

History of flight

On the evening of November 19, 1969, at about 20:03 EST, Mohawk Airlines Flight 411, a twin engine Fairchild FH-227B turboprop, departed from Albany International Airport near Albany, New York. It was operating as a scheduled passenger/cargo flight on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan to its destination of Warren County Airport in Glens Falls, New York, 37 nautical miles (69 km) northeast, with an estimated flight time of about 15 minutes.^[1]

At 20:07:32 EST, just 4 minutes after takeoff, Flight 411 was cleared by air traffic control (ATC) for "a VOR approach to runway 19". The aircraft overflew the Glens Falls airport and proceeded northbound, subsequently reversing course. Shortly after course reversal, at about 20:20 EST, the aircraft hit trees on the northwest slope of the Pilot Knob Mountain, then impacted a rock cliff from which it fell 34 feet (10 m) and became lodged between trees and caught fire. Of the 11 passengers and 3 crew on board, there were no survivors.^[2]

Investigation and final report

Diagram depicting final flight path of Mohawk 411, NTSB Report Mohawk411-D-2.jpg — Diagram depicting final flight path of Mohawk 411, NTSB Report

The accident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The Flight Data Recorder was recovered intact from the wreckage, but the Cockpit Voice Recorder had been damaged in the post-crash fire and was unusable.^[1]

The weather at Glens Falls at the time of the accident was reported as "2,100 (feet) overcast, visibility 7 (miles) in light rain, wind 180 (degrees) at 12 (knots), peak gusts 22 (knots), altimeter 2980, runway 19 in use". The surface temperature was 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius).

The investigation revealed that ATC cleared the flight to "the VOR approach", without actually specifying which specific VOR approach procedure was to be used, possibly leaving it to the flight crew's discretion. According to the radio communication transcript, the flight crew did not inquire as to which specific approach was in effect. There were two published VOR approaches at the time, one from the north and one from the south. The northern approach, called "VOR/DME 19", was not legally available to the crew under these circumstances, as Mohawk company policy prohibited reliance on DME as a primary navigational instrument. The other VOR approach, called "VOR 1", was the only one legally available to the flight, and would have required descending while approaching the airport from the south during the final approach segment, followed by a "circle to land" maneuver, landing to the south on runway 19.

Despite this, possibly due to their concerns with passenger comfort (the VOR 1 approach would have required performing the "circle to land" maneuver at a relatively low altitude over the airport to land on runway 19), or possibly by simply being late to set up for the recommended VOR 1 approach (the flight time was only about 8 minutes from takeoff at Albany to the Glens Falls area, with a significant tailwind component of approximately 50 knots), the crew did not execute the VOR 1 approach. Instead, the crew appeared to select an improvised and unauthorized modified version of the VOR/DME 19 approach, which included flying outbound followed by a course reversal at about 10 nautical miles (20 km) north of the airport, over Lake George. As the crew performed what appeared to be an unpublished and unauthorized procedure turn for course reversal on the VOR/DME 19 approach path, they descended prematurely and hit the side of a mountain. It was subsequently determined that a 60-knot (110 km/h) southerly wind created a downdraft effect which, coupled with the aircraft's low altitude over the terrain, contributed to the crash.

In their final report, issued on June 25, 1970, the NTSB determined the following official Probable Cause for the accident:^[2]

The captain, while conducting an approach, exceeded his clearance limits and, thereafter, flew the aircraft into a severe "lee of the mountain downdraft" at an altitude insufficient for recovery. No evidence was found to explain why this particular approach was attempted.

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References

1 2 3 "Aircraft Accident Report: Mohawk Airlines, Inc., Fairchild Hiller FH-227B, N7811M, near Glenn Falls, New York, November 19, 1969" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. June 25, 1970. NTSB-AAR-70-12. Retrieved December 14, 2009. - Copy at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University.
1 2 3 Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network . Retrieved on December 14, 2009.

External links

Airliners.net Photo of accident aircraft N7811M, a year before the accident, July 20, 1968
Glens Falls Airport on AirNav Database

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[ntsb-1] 1 2 3 "Aircraft Accident Report: Mohawk Airlines, Inc., Fairchild Hiller FH-227B, N7811M, near Glenn Falls, New York, November 19, 1969" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. June 25, 1970. NTSB-AAR-70-12. Retrieved December 14, 2009. - Copy at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University.

[asn-2] 1 2 3 Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network . Retrieved on December 14, 2009.

[1]

[2]

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1960s
1960	National Airlines Flight 2511 Capital Airlines Flight 20 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710 Chicago Helicopter Airways Flight 698 World Airways Flight 830 Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 Cal Poly football team New York mid-air collision
1961	Goldsboro B-52 American Airlines Flight 1502 Yuba City B-52 United Air Lines Flight 859 Alaska Airlines Flight 779 TWA Flight 529 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4
1962	American Airlines Flight 1 Continental Airlines Flight 11 Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301 United Air Lines Flight 297 Eastern Air Lines Flight 512
1963	Elephant Mountain B-52 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 Camden PA-24 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293 Mohawk Airlines Flight 112 Pan Am Flight 214
1964	Savage Mountain B-52 Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 Paradise Airlines Flight 901A Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 United Air Lines Flight 823 Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114 Flying Tiger Line Flight 282
1965	USAF KC-135 Wichita Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 Pan Am Flight 843 Continental Airlines Flight 12 Allegheny Airlines Flight 604 United Air Lines Flight 389 American Airlines Flight 383 United Air Lines Flight 227 Carmel mid-air (Eastern 853, TWA 42)
1966	NASA T-38 American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D Braniff International Airways Flight 250 West Coast Airlines Flight 956
1967	Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 TWA Flight 553 West Coast Airlines Flight 720 Delta Air Lines Flight 9877 Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 TWA Flight 159 X-15 Flight 3-65-97 TWA Flight 128
1968	Ozark Air Lines Flight 965 Braniff International Airways Flight 352 Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 Northeast Airlines Flight 946 Japan Air Lines Flight 2 Pan Am Flight 281 Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 Pan Am Flight 799 North Central Airlines Flight 458 Ozark Air Lines Flight 982
1969	Allegheny Airlines Flight 737 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 United Air Lines Flight 266 Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 Prinair Flight 277 Delta Air Lines Flight 821 TWA Flight 5787 Newton Cessna 172 crash Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 Mohawk Airlines Flight 411
This list is incomplete.

Mohawk Airlines Flight 411

Contents

History of flight

Investigation and final report

See also

Related Research Articles

References

External links