1990 Miami Mid-Air Collision

Date:July 4th 1990
 Total survivors:7
Total injuries:7
Total fatalities:140

## Aircraft involved:

FlyShipping Airways flight 4567

Aircraft:Douglas
DC-8-63F
 Flight no.(IATA):VA4567
(ICAO):VAL4567
Callsign:Air Cruise 4567 HEAVY

Total occupants:3

FlyShip Airways flight 437

Aircraft:Boeing 727-200
2nd stopover:McCarran International Airport
 Flight no.(IATA):VA437
(ICAO):VAL437
Callsign:Air Cruise 437

Occupants:132

## Sequence of events

Two outbound flights, Voyager Airlines flight 4567 from Miami International Airport, and Voyager Airlines flight 437 from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, were climbing towards their cruising altitudes. The ATC controlling both flights at the time, was Frances Reagan. At 19:34 EST(20:34 EDT)(00:34 UTC) Flight 4567 was told to hold at 17 000 feet, and Flight 437 to hold at 18 000 feet respectively, to make for an inbound American Airlines flight. About 20 seconds later, flight 4567 requested a climb to 18 000 feet, which the ATC cleared the flight for, setting flight 4567 and flight 437 at the same altitude, as it seemed the flights were adequately separated. A few seconds later, flight 4567 requested a climb to 20 000 feet, which Frances granted permission to. Around 2 seconds later, flight 237 was instructed to climb to its cruising altitude, but failed to assign the aircraft a lower rate of climb, and did not realise that, both aircraft, were, effectively climbing towards each other. It was only when flight 4567 suddenly veered away from its flight path, to the right, towards flight 437. Panickingly, she instructed the words "Air Cruise 45-er 37 descend", intending to instruct flight 437 to descend. However, with both flights tuned into the same frequency, the crew on both flight 437 and flight 4567 were confused, as no such flight existed. Flight 4567, however, descended, the crew assuming that by "Air Cruise 4537", the ATC had meant to instruct them. At 19:37 EST(20:37 EDT)(00:37 UTC), it was around 19 000 feet, whem the DC-8 came into view of the of the Boeing 727, Captain Jameson took evasive action, pushing the nose down and turning right in an attempt to clear flight 4567. This however, proved futile. The left wing of flight 437 clipped the belly of flight 4567, with nearly 1/2 of right wing of the DC-8 being sheared off from ripping the no.2 engine, and the vertical and horizontal stabilizers off the Boeing 727, with the no.2 port side engine of flight 4567 briefly colliding with the fuselage of flight 437. Flight 437, with its centre of gravity displaced, plummeted straight into the ground, killing all 132 occupants. Flight 4567, entered an uncontrollable tailspin, crashing near the city of Weston, narrowingly avoiding a road, killing all 3 occupants on the DC-8. However, debris from the aircraft spilled onto the road, killing 5 people, and injuring 7 more.

## Investigation

The NTSB and FAA took to investigating, as soon as news of the disaster had spread. With the ATC and flight recordings, investigators were left with several questions. Why did the crew of flight 4567 divert from their flight plan, and why wasn't there any signs of TCAS working? These questions were swiftly answered with further analysis, and weather data. It was found that, the VOR of flight 4567, displayed the wrong information to the crew of flight 4567, which made them divert further away to the left, thinking that they were at the correct heading, when they were not. This had been caused by a short burst of lightning that interfered with the VOR, sending the crew the wrong signals. It was also found the VOR itself had some problems, and had malfunctioned in previous flights. In addition, a shocking discovery was made, that, flight 4567 was not equipped with TCAS at all, explaining why the TCAS did not sound. This was violating FAA regulations. Records also showed that the crew of flight 4567 were overworked, due to being only one of few remaining DC-8 aircrew left, and showing signs of fatigue throughout the recording. The final report put the blame on all sides of the party, Air Traffic Controller Frances Reagan for forgetting to clarify with flight 437 that they had to execute a lower rate of climb and for messing up the callsign for flight 437, the aircrew of flight 437 for taking the evasive action, as simulations showed that it would've avoided collision if it simply descended without turning right, the aircrew of both flight 437 and flight 4567 for not confirming with the ATC who she had meant by "Air Cruise 4537", and Voyager Airlines itself. Poor visibility also contributed to the crash, as it was cloudy that day.