Word: crew
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...disaster. The morning sky was warm and hazy over Dallas-Fort Worth International, an airport that many pilots consider the safest in the U.S. But as Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 lifted off last Wednesday for an 8:31 flight to Salt Lake City, the 108 passengers and crew members sensed trouble immediately. The plane was only about 30 ft. above the runway when three backfiring noises erupted, followed by a burst of flames from the left engine and a sudden stall. Horrified passengers on a commuter plane sitting on a nearby runway saw the sinking plane...
These misreadings of radar data were attributed to "human errors" made by the ship's crew. But Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci insisted they were not crucial in triggering Rogers' decision to act. Contrary to the implications of an earlier, leaked version of the report, Carlucci said, no one will be punished, because "these mistakes were not due to negligence or culpability...
...which to make his fateful decision. The ship was heeling at 32 degrees in a sharp turn. "Things were falling in the CIC ((combat information center)), lights were flickering, and in the background, guns were booming," said Carlucci. The sound of bullets hitting the ship's hull rattled the crew. Rogers, said Crowe, had to assume that "the relentlessly closing" aircraft, which had taken off from a Bandar Abbas airport used by the military, was part of the Iranian attack unless he could prove otherwise. Said Crowe: "The proof never came...
Initially, the Navy placed great weight on the detection of a so-called Mode II IFF (identification, friend or foe) signal from the approaching aircraft that identified it as an F-14 Tomcat jet fighter. Although crew members on the Vincennes CIC claimed to have seen this military signal, tape recordings show only a Mode III code, which is used by both civilian and military aircraft...
...false reading? The report cites "stress, task fixation and unconscious distortion of data" by the crew as likely causes. Whatever the IFF signal, Crowe said, Rogers would not have relied on it alone, since Iranian military aircraft have been known to use Mode III to hide their identity. The report said the Airbus was not using its normal weather radar, which would have conclusively identified it as civilian...