Nov 6, 2009 1:58 pm US/Central
A Halloween Tragedy: The Crash Of Flight 4184
Commuter Plane Headed For Chicago Went Down Over Indiana Soybean Field
ROSELAWN, Ind. (CBS) ―
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American Eagle Flight 4184 went down over a soybean field in Newton County, Ind., on Oct. 31, 1994. Sixty-eight people were killed. This is the scene the day after the crash.
CBS
The weather in the Chicago area was miserable on Halloween in 1994, with rain and thunder, winds as high as 32 mph, and even freezing rain and snow.
In Chicago and the suburbs, that just meant unhappy trick-or-treating, and a difficult game for the Bears and the Packers at Soldier Field. But for 68 people aboard a commuter airplane heading to O'Hare International Airport to Indianapolis, the wretched weather proved deadly.
American Eagle Flight 4814 went down in a soybean field in Newton County, Ind., close to Roselawn, in the afternoon on Oct. 31, 1994. All 68 people on board were killed.
The ATR-72 twin turboprop had been placed in a holding pattern over rural Indiana, due to delays because of the inclement weather
The inclement weather in Chicago had delayed the flight, and its crew was flying around in a holding pattern. Freezing rain was falling, and as the plane descended from 10,000 feet to 8,000 feet, it suddenly disappeared from the radar screens.
The plane went through at least one full roll before rapidly descending and crashing down into the soybean field. Witnesses said it sounded like thunder.
When the plane went down, the scene was grim and the conditions disastrous, but a shot from Chopper 2 showed emergency crews everywhere. But by 10 p.m., the scene was deserted. Weather conditions were so bad the night of the crash that crews couldn't search for bodies or go through the debris until the following day.
On Nov. 1, U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Peña was on the scene with National Transportation Safety Board investigators. Bits of wreckage were scattered across 640 acres of the soybean fields, because the plane disintegrated upon impact. Only the tail section and a part of the cockpit were visible.
The flight data recorder determined that the plane had been traveling at 375 knots, or more than 400 mph, when it hit the ground. It was angled 38 degrees toward the ground.
Ultimately, the NTSB determined that a ridge of ice formed while the plane was in the holding pattern in the freezing rain, and the deicing system couldn't melt it away. The crew lost control of the plane and couldn't recover, according to the NTSB report.
A report by the Clifford Law Offices says the last sound recorded on the black box was the co-pilot saying, "Aw (expletive)" as the plane went down.
After the crash, Clifford Law says, the coroner couldn't find more than a pound of remains for any given victim.
While many of the people on board the plane planned to transfer to other flights at O'Hare, there were dozens of victims from the Chicago area. Among them were the pilot, a flight attendant, and a young Chicago man who had just been admitted to the Indiana bar and had been celebrating with his father – who also died in the crash.
The New York Times compiled this list of victims.
The families of the victims settled out of court for $110 million in 1997. Since the crash, American Eagle has discontinued ATR-72 prop planes in its northern routes, and changed the deicing systems and procedures for flying in icy conditions.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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