Caledonian Airways Flight 845

The DC-10 involved in the accident

## Introduction

Caledonian Airways Flight 845 was a passenger flight from London to San Francisco, with a stop in New York. The flight crashed sideways in a valley in Utah, and the impact killed 94 people.

## Pilots

Captain Adam Wilson, First Officer Garry Fowler and Flight Engineer Jay Ellery made the flight, and all three pilots survived the accident.

## The Crash

Flight 845 has taken off from JFK, and is making it's way to San Francisco. But as the flight continues, the pilots notice something odd. The right engine is giving erratic inputs on it's thrust levels. The cockpit instruments are stating that it has gone from no power to full in seconds, and continues to do so. The pilots think this is just an instrument issue, but that is until a flight attendant rushes in and tells them something is wrong with the engine. The pilots now fear that the erratic inputs that they are receiving are actually happening.

The flight engineer goes into the cabin to check on the engine, and sees the fan on the front of the engine spinning and coming to a stop randomly. He realises that the engine is malfunctioning, and not the instrument in the cockpit. He begins to head back, but as he does the sound of an explosion rips through the plane. The plane banks harshly to the right at almost a 90° angle, and the flight engineer attempts to get back into the cockpit. The pilots push their plane up, and Captain Wilson suggests they move the plane to the left, as pulling the plane up won't do anything at this sharp of an angle. Flight Engineer Ellery straps himself into a vacant seat in the cabin, as he doesn't think he will make it into the cockpit. He gets a glimpse of the right wing, and sees that the engine is on fire, and the wing is extremely damaged. The crew begins to regain control, but they are too close to the ground. The plane is descending slowly, so they believe they will have a chance of survival, and this is true. The right wing of the plane then scrapes across the ground, followed shortly by the plane itself. The aircraft splits in two, and comes to a stop on it's side, leaving the left wing extended at the top of the wreckage.

The plane, now split in two, had come to a stop in a valley in Utah. Some passengers were killed in the impact, others survived without a scratch. 89 died on the site, with another 5 dying in hospital due to their injuries. All three members of the crew, including Flight Engineer Ellery, had survived the accident. Passengers began to clamber out of the wreckage, and helped others who couldn't. The malfunctioning engine sat nearby the wreckage, and pilots warned the passengers that the engine was at fault for the accident, and that it could explode. And, as the final passengers were leaving the plane, the plane dropped. The front half of the plane, with nothing to hold it up, toppled over, and became completely upside-down. Passengers were soon retrieved from the site, and the pilots were awarded for their quick thinking. But why did that quick thinking occur?

## Cause

After an investigation on the engine and hydraulic systems, a fault in the DC-10-30 model was found. The fault explained the erratic inputs, and the engine reacted to this by exploding. The engine was not able to take such rapid inputs, and exploded. The explosion heavily damaged the right wing, explaining the harsh bank to the right.

## CVR Transcript

C - Captain Adam Wilson

O - First Officer Garry Fowler

E - Flight Engineer Jay Ellery

F - Flight Attendent Sophie Wheeler

S - System/Plane Alerts

10:02:28 E - Hey Wilson, we might have a problem with engine three.

10:02:34 C - What's happening to it?

10:02:36 E - It's turning on and off again randomly.

10:02:39 C - Lemme see.

10:02:40 \*Seatbelt clicking\*

10:02:46 C - Huh. Do you wanna go che-

10:02:48 F - There’s something wrong with the right engine.

10:02:52 E - OK, I’ll head straight down there and see what’s going on.

10:02:57 \*Seatbelt clicking followed by opening and closing of cockpit door\*

10:03:00 \*Seatbelt clicking\*

10:03:01 C - Let's hope that's just an instrument failure.

10:03:03 O - Yeah, don't think engines can do that kind of thing.

10:03:07 \*explosion\*

10:03:08 S - Bank angle, bank angle (repeats until end of recording) \*alarms\*

10:03:09 O - Holy f\*\*k!

10:03:11 C - Calm, we need to get the plane out of this.

10:03:17 O - It's not coming out of it!

10:03:20 C - OK, let's get the plane out of the bank first.

10:03:29 O - 10,000!

10:03:32 C - We're slowing our vertical speed.

10:03:35 O - Christ, we're not going to make it!

10:03:37 C - We might, the plane is coming in sideways, so we might survive.

10:03:42 O - Well, here we go!

10:03:45 C - \*whispered\* Father in heaven, have mercy.

\*End of recording\*