What happened
On a scheduled service flight (ZW965) traveling from Appleton, Wisconsin, toward Lincoln, Nebraska, via Minneapolis, an Avro RJ85 encountered deteriorating weather conditions. While cruising at 12,000 feet, the aircraft entered areas of precipitation and moderate turbulence. In response to the worsening conditions, the crew received several clearances to descend, moving from 12,000 feet down to 8,000, then 6,000, 4,000, and eventually 3,000 feet.
During the descent through 6,000 feet, the aircraft experienced a simultaneous loss of power in both engines caused by massive water ingestion. Although the crew attempted to restart the engines, the Metro was unable to regain altitude and impacted a muddy field in a nose-down and right-wing-down orientation. Following the initial impact, the aircraft bounced and struck the ground again 288 feet further along its path. The plane then skidded for 1,022 feet before coming to rest in an inverted position. There was no post-crash fire reported. The accident resulted in 13 fatalities and two serious injuries.
Findings
The investigation determined that the primary cause was the flight crew's decision to continue flying into severe thunderstorm activity, which led to a precipitation-induced flameout of both engines at an altitude that precluded recovery. Several contributing factors were identified, including the failure of the crew and air traffic control personnel to utilize or disseminate critical weather information. Additionally, radar attenuation caused by heavy precipitation limited the effectiveness of the aircraft's onboard weather radar in detecting the true intensity of the storm cells.