On the evening of Friday, February 1, 1991, USAir Flight 1493, a Boeing 737-300, collided with SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprop aircraft, upon landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). As Flight 1493 was on final approach, the local controller was distracted, though air traffic was not heavy at LAX, by a series of abnormalities, including a misplaced flight progress strip and an aircraft that had inadvertently switched off the tower frequency. The SkyWest flight was told to taxi into takeoff position, while the USAir flight was landing on the same runway.
Upon landing, the 737 collided with the smaller turboprop Metroliner, which was crushed beneath the larger USAir jet as it continued down the runway, caught fire, and veered into an airport fire station. Rescue workers arrived in minutes and began to evacuate the 737, but because of the intense fire, three of the 737's six exits were unusable, including both front exits; front passengers could only use one of the two overwing exits, causing a bottleneck. All 12 people aboard the smaller plane were killed, along with an eventual total of 23 of the 89 occupants of the 737, with 20 on the 737 caused by asphyxiation in the fire. One passenger from the 737 died from injuries 31 days later.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the probable cause of the accident was the procedures in use at the LAX control tower, which provided inadequate redundancy, leading to a loss of situational awareness by the local controller, and inadequate oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for failing to supervise the control tower managers. The crash led directly to the NTSB's recommendation of using different runways for takeoffs and landings at LAX.
USAir Flight 1493 was a scheduled service from Syracuse, New York, making stops at Washington, DC, Columbus, Ohio, and LAX, before continuing to San Francisco. On February 1, 1991, Flight 1493 was operated using a Boeing 737-300 (registration N388US); after a crew change in Washington, DC, it was under the command of Captain Colin Franklin Shaw (48), a highly experienced pilot with about 16,300 total flight hours (including more than 4,300 hours on the Boeing 737), and First Officer David T. Kelly (32), who had about 4,300 total flight hours, with 982 hours on the Boeing 737. Flying into LAX, the aircraft had 89 people on board (83 passengers, four flight attendants, and the two pilots).
On February 1, 1991, SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569 was operated using a twin-engined Fairchild Metroliner (registration N683AV). The flight was scheduled to depart LAX on the final leg of a multicity schedule, and was bound for Palmdale, California, with 10 passengers and two pilots aboard. The aircraft did not carry a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or a flight data recorder (FDR), as it was not required to do so at the time. Both of Flight 5569's pilots had significant experience; Captain Andrew Lucas (32), had roughly 8,800 flight hours (with 2,101 of them on the Metroliner), and First Officer Frank Prentice (45), had over 8,000 flight hours, including 1,363 hours on the Metroliner.
LAX has four parallel runways, with the two runways and associated taxiways north of the terminal called the North Complex.
The air traffic controller (ATC) in charge of takeoffs and landings in the LAX tower (the local controller) was Robin Lee Wascher. She had been working in the role since 1982, and began working at LAX in 1989. The clearance delivery controller in charge of taxiing aircraft was Francita Vandiver, who had previously served as an ATC in the US Navy. She had been working at LAX since 1988.
Skywest 5569 was cleared by ATC Wascher in the LAX tower to taxi to Runway 24L, moving from gate 32 to the runway via taxiways Kilo, 48, Tango, and 45.
Immediately prior to SkyWest 5569 reaching runway 24L, a Wings West aircraft had landed on 24R and was awaiting permission to cross 24L and taxi to the terminal. The local controller attempted to contact the Wings West aircraft, but the crew had changed frequencies and did not answer, distracting Wascher as she attempted to reestablish communications. Shortly after 6 PM local time, as USAir 1493 was on final approach to LAX, the SkyWest Metroliner was cleared by the local controller to taxi into position and hold on Runway 24L at the intersection of taxiway 45, some 2,200 feet (670 m) up from the runway threshold. After four attempts by the local controller, the Wings West aircraft finally responded to the tower and apologized for switching frequencies. Wascher then cleared the USAir flight to land on 24L, even though the SkyWest Metroliner was still holding in takeoff position on the runway:
With this activity ongoing, another Wings West aircraft, a Metroliner similar to SkyWest 5569, called the tower reporting they were ready for takeoff. Wascher queried this aircraft about their position, and they told her they were holding on a taxiway short of 24L. The flight progress strip for this flight had not yet been given to Wascher by controller Vandiver (another distraction), and Wascher mistakenly thought this Metroliner was SkyWest 5569, and thus that the runway was clear of aircraft. The first officer of the USAir flight recalled hearing this conversation, but did not remember anyone being cleared to hold on the runway. Meanwhile, Wascher was busy handling other flights:
The USAir plane touched down near the runway threshold. Just as the nose was being lowered, the first officer noticed SkyWest 5569 on the runway and applied maximum braking, but it was too late. The following was recorded on the CVR:
The USAir plane slammed into the Metroliner, crushing it beneath its fuselage. The 737 proceeded to skid down the runway, then veered off the left side and came to rest on the far side of the taxiway against a closed fire station building, where it eventually caught fire. Large debris from the Metroliner – including its tail, wings, and right engine – were found on the runway and between the runway and the abandoned fire station.
The 35 dead included all 12 people (10 passengers and both crew members) on SkyWest 5569, and 23 of the 89 aboard the USAir 1493 (21 passengers, Captain Shaw, and 22-year-old lead flight attendant Deanna Bethea). Two of the USAir fatalities were passengers who initially survived the crash, but died from burn injuries three and 31 days after the crash.
Captain Shaw was killed when the nose of the aircraft struck the abandoned fire station, crushing the section of the cockpit where his seat was located. Of the remaining passengers and crew aboard USAir 1493, two crew members and 10 passengers sustained serious injuries, 2 crew members and 15 passengers sustained minor injuries, and 37 passengers received no injuries. Billionaire businessman David H. Koch was among the survivors.
The majority of fatalities aboard USAir 1493 occurred to those seated in the front of the plane, where the post crash fire originated in the forward cargo hold, fed by a combination of fuel from the wreckage of SkyWest 5569 and gaseous oxygen from the 737's damaged crew oxygen system. Everyone seated in row 6 or forward was either killed or sustained major injuries, while everyone aft of row 17 escaped, some with minor injuries. Only two passengers and one crew member managed to escape from the forward service (R1) door, while the main cabin (L1) door was inoperable due to damage. Only two passengers used the left over-wing exit before the fire became too intense outside the aircraft. The majority of the survivors exited via the right over-wing exit, with the rest of the surviving cabin occupants escaping through the rear service (R2) door. The rear passenger (L2) door was briefly opened during the course of the accident, but was quickly closed due to the spreading fire on that side of the aircraft. Multiple issues slowed the evacuation from the right over-wing door, including a passenger seated in the exit row who could not open the door, a brief scuffle between two men at the exit, and the seatback of the exit window seat being folded forward, partially obstructing the exit.