Investigation Summary
The flight encountered a massive storm cell that appeared as a 'hole' on the cockpit's monochromatic radar—a phenomenon known as attenuation where heavy precipitation blocks radar waves, misleading pilots into thinking the path is clear. Upon entering the cell, the engines (Pratt & Whitney JT8D) ingested hail and water beyond their design capacity. This caused the compressor blades to deform and clash with the engine casings, leading to catastrophic internal damage and total flameout. With no power and limited altitude, the pilots attempted to glide to a nearby airfield but realized they lacked the energy, choosing instead to land on Georgia State Route 92.
Final Conclusions
The NTSB determined the probable cause was the total loss of thrust from both engines due to the ingestion of massive amounts of water and hail. Contributing factors included the failure of the airline's dispatching system to provide the crew with up-to-date weather information and the limitations of the aircraft's airborne weather radar in detecting the intensity of the storm.
Video Analysis
The Highway Landing | Southern Airways Flight 242 — A detailed look at the events leading to the emergency landing of Southern Airways Flight 242 on a Georgia highway after a double engine failure in a thunderstorm.
Watch on YouTube ↗If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Systems & Failure Modes
Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7
The turbofan engines suffered compressor stalls and mechanical damage due to hail ingestion.
Weather Radar
The onboard radar failed to show the true intensity of the storm due to signal attenuation by heavy rain.
Flight Dispatch
The airline's ground-based weather monitoring failed to relay critical severe weather warnings to the crew.
Interesting Facts
- 01The crash killed 63 people on board and 9 people on the ground.
- 02The aircraft's windshield was severely cracked by hail, obscuring the pilots' vision.
- 03The DC-9 was equipped with a Bendix RDR-1F monochromatic radar which suffered from attenuation.
- 04The pilots were forced to use the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) to maintain electrical power after engine failure.
- 0522 passengers and 2 flight attendants survived the initial impact and fire.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Radar Improvements
The FAA mandated the use of more advanced color weather radar systems to better identify storm intensity.
Weather Dissemination
Procedures were improved for the Real-Time distribution of hazardous weather information to flight crews.
Engine Certification
Engine ingestion standards were reviewed to ensure better tolerance for water and hail intake.