Exactly 32 years ago today, on February 1, 1991, USAir flight 1493 collided with SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California. The collision resulted in the death of 22 of the 89 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 737 and all 12 passengers and crew aboard the Metroliner.

The aircraft involved in the runway collision was a five-year-old USAir Boeing 737-300 with the registration N388US and a SkyWest Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprop with the registration N683AV. USAir Flight 1493 was a regularly scheduled passenger service from Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) with stops in:

• Washington National Airport (DCA)
• John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

In command of the flight was 48-year-old Captain Colin Shaw, assisted by 32-year-old First Officer David Kelly. Shaw was a highly experienced pilot with a total of 16,300 flight hours, of which 4,300 were aboard the Boeing 737. Kelly meanwhile had 4,300 flight hours, of which 982 hours were on the Boeing 737.

SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569 had ten passengers onboard

SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569 was a regularly scheduled commuter passenger flight from Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) to Palmdale Regional Airport (PAD) with a stop at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). In command of the flight was 32-year-old Captain Andrew Lucas, assisted by 45-year-old First Officer Frank Prentice. Captain Lu had 8,800 flight hours, of which more than 2,000 were on the Metroliner. First Officer Prentice meanwhile had over 8,000 flight hours, of which 1,363 hours were on the Metroliner.

Photo:  Fergus Abraham via Wikimedia Commons.

Because the runways at LAX are very long, small aircraft like the Metroliner did not need the entire length to take off and usually departed from the middle, as was the case on the evening in question. The crew of the Metroliner communicated with the control tower, asking for permission to take off from intersection 45 on Runway 24L. The tower cleared the aircraft, asking it to communicate back with the tower once it was in position.

Once in position, SkyWest Flight 5569 called the tower and said, "we would like to go from here if we can."

The tower replied saying, “SkyWest 5569 taxi up to and hold short of two four left.” “Roger, hold short,” said the SkyWest pilot. At the time, the controller had multiple aircraft to handle when USAir Flight 1493 radioed to report its position and ask for permission to land. After being approved for an instrument approach to Runway 24R, Captain Shaw radioed to say that he had the runway in sight. Because of this, the controller approved a visual approach landing on Runway 24L.

Photo: James Jenkins via Flickr.

Having done its job, the air traffic (ATC) passed the USAir flight over to LAX tower. Captain Shaw then radioed the tower, expecting to receive permission to land. Meanwhile, the controller was busy handling several aircraft and did not get back to the inbound USAir Boeing 737.

Wrongly assuming that Runway 24 was clear of traffic, the controller cleared Captain Shaw to land, forgetting that the Metroliner was at intersection 45 waiting to take off. As the USAir plane was making its approach, First Officer Kelly told Captain Shaw that all was clear for landing.

The controller at LAX was busy with multiple planes

Following a picture-perfect landing, Captain Shaw began applying the brakes and reverse thrust to slow the aircraft down. Suddenly, with no time to avoid a collision, the Boeing 737 slammed into the back of the Metroliner, killing all 12 passengers and crew.

Following the crash, the Metroliner burst into flames, and the 737 continued skidding across the airport before finally coming to a rest. Fatalities aboard the 737 included Captain Shaw and 20 passengers at the front of the plane.

The investigation into the LAX runway collision

In charge of the investigation as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). They determined that by the time the 737s nose touched down and Captain Shaw saw the Metroliner that there was no time to avoid the collision. LAX controller Robin Wasche accepted the blame for the crash. She said that rooftop lights in her line of sight caused glare in the tower, making it difficult to see small planes like the Metroliner. Making matters worse was that on the day of the crash, the ground radar at LAX was not working.

The NTSB criticized the ground-traffic control facilities at LAX and placed the blame on the controller, who had lost situational awareness of what plane was where on the day of the crash.