
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 30, 1994                   TAG: 9409020025
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

USAIR CHARLOTTE PILOTS GOT NO WIND-SHEAR ALERT

Pilots of a USAir jet that crashed last month in Charlotte did not receive a wind-shear alert issued seconds before the plane smashed into the ground, according to tapes released Monday.

The tapes of conversations between USAir flight 1016 and controllers before the July 2 crash also revealed that the pilots, Capt. Michael Greenlee and First Officer James Hayes, did not follow the normal route for aborting a landing.

Under Federal Aviation Administration guidelines, the plane should have continued straight and climbed to 3,000 feet.

But at 6:42.22 p.m., eight seconds after informing the tower it was ``on the go,'' which means the landing is being aborted, pilots told controllers they were ``going up to 3,000 [feet]; we're taking a right turn here.''

Surprised controllers asked three seconds later, ``USAir 1016, understand you're turning right?''

There was no reply. Seconds later, in a blinding thunderstorm and unable to gain altitude, the plane crashed, killing 37 of the 57 people on board.

Wayne Pierce, an FAA safety official, said the route taken by Flight 1016 was ``not the standard missed approach.'' Pilots can veer from the guidelines if they receive permission from controllers. Permission was not granted, and it was not clear from the transcripts whether it was even requested.

What is clear is that the weather surrounding Charlotte-Douglas International Airport that evening was deteriorating. In the minute before the crash, the tower issued two wind-shear alerts for a sector of the airport more than one mile from the runway where 1016 was preparing to land.

An area-wide wind-shear alert, which covered the entire airport, was issued 20 seconds before the plane crashed. By then, Flight 1016 had switched its radio to a new frequency so it could talk to local controllers at Charlotte airport and thus did not hear the alert.

It is unclear whether the wind-shear alert - if heard by the pilots - could have averted the crash. It also is unclear whether the pilots' decision to turn right after aborting the landing contributed to the crash. Those are among the issues being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB