 A Comair Embraer EMB-120, similar to the one involved | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | January 9, 1997 |
| Summary | Atmospheric icing leading to loss of control |
| Site | Raisinville Township, near Dundee, Michigan, U.S. 41°57′48.08″N 83°33′8.39″W / 41.9633556°N 83.5523306°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Embraer 120 RT Brasilia |
| Operator | Comair (as Delta Connection) |
| Call sign | COMAIR 3272 |
| Registration | N265CA |
| Flight origin | Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport |
| Destination | Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport |
| Occupants | 29 |
| Passengers | 26 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 29 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Comair Flight 3272 was a Comair flight from Cincinnati to Detroit on Thursday, January 9, 1997. While on approach for landing, the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia aircraft crashed nose-down 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport at 15:54 EST, killing all 29 people on board.[1][2][3][4][5]
The cause of the crash was determined to be inadequate and out of date flight crew procedures for icing conditions. Some of these originated with the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to specify suitable minimum airspeeds for icing conditions, while some were Comair procedure manual defects, including superseded instructions on the use of de-icing boots that did not follow the aircraft manufacturer's instructions.
- ^ "Plane crashes in 'ball of fire'; 29 killed". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Knight-Ridder News Service, The New York Times, Associated Press. January 10, 1997. p. 1A.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Hughes, John (January 10, 1997). "Plane crashes in big fireball near Detroit". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. p. 1A.
- ^ "In-Flight Icing Encounter and Uncontrolled Collision with Terrain, COMAIR Flight 3272, Embraer EMB-129RT, N265CA, Monroe, Michigan, January 9, 1997" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. November 4, 1997. NTSB/AAR-98/04. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 15, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
- ^ Wilkinson, Mike (January 10, 1997). "29 die in Ida plane crash". Toledo Blade. Ohio. p. 1.
- ^ "In crisis, Comair stayed on course". The Cincinnati Enquirer. January 19, 1997. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2009.