TWA Flight 159 Runway Incident at Cincinnati (N742TW)

Incident Overview and Sequence of Events TWA Flight 159, a scheduled domestic service from New York to Los Angeles with an intermediate stop at Greater Cincinnati Airport, departed the Cincinnati ramp at 1833 hours Eastern Standard Time. While approaching runway 27L for takeoff, Delta Air Lines Flight 379, a DC-9 with registration N-3317L, was completing its landing roll. The Delta crew requested and received clearance for a 180-degree turnaround on the runway to return to the intersection of runway 18-36. After turning approximately 90 degrees, the nosewheel slipped off the paved surface, and the aircraft moved straight ahead off the runway, becoming mired. The throttles were retarded to idle, and power was not increased again. At 1839:05 hours, while Delta Flight 379 was in the process of clearing the runway, TWA Flight 159 was cleared for takeoff. The local controller testified that before TWA Flight 159 began moving, he observed that Delta Flight 379 had stopped. Although the Delta aircraft appeared clear of the runway, the controller requested confirmation from the crew, who replied, “Yeah, we're in the dirt, though.” Following this report, the controller stated, “TWA 159 he's clear of the runway, cleared for take-off, company jet on final behind you.” ## Takeoff, Perceived Collision, and Abort Takeoff performance had been computed as V1 132 knots, VR 140 knots, and V2 150 knots. In fact, Delta Flight 379 was stopped on a heading of 004 degrees and located 4,600 feet from the threshold of runway 27L, with its aft-most point approximately 7 feet north of the runway edge. The aft-most exterior lights on the wingtip and the upper and lower anti-collision lights were approximately 45 feet from the runway edge. The TWA Flight 159 crew did not have Delta Flight 379 in sight when they commenced the takeoff roll. The co-pilot was performing the takeoff, and the pilot-in-command drew his attention to Delta Flight 379 as the aircraft appeared in their landing lights. They could see that it was off the runway by some 5 to 7 feet. As TWA Flight 159 passed abeam of Delta Flight 379, the co-pilot experienced a movement of the flight controls and the aircraft yawed. Simultaneously, there was a loud bang from the right side of the aircraft. The last airspeed he had observed was 120 knots, and assuming that the aircraft was at or near V1 and that a collision had occurred, he elected to abort the takeoff. He closed the power levers, placed them in full reverse, applied maximum braking, and called for the spoilers, which the pilot-in-command operated. ## Runoff and Impact Directional control was maintained, but the aircraft ran off the end of the runway, rolled across the terrain for approximately 225 feet, to the brow of a hill, and became airborne momentarily. It next contacted the ground approximately 67 feet further down the embankment, the main landing gear was torn off, and the nosewheel was displaced rearward, forcing the cabin floor upward by approximately 15 inches. The aircraft slid down the embankment and came to rest on a road approximately 421 feet from the end of the runway. The accident occurred at approximately 1841 hours, in darkness. ## Casualties and Damage A passenger was killed, another was seriously injured, and five others were slightly injured. The aircraft was written off.