37 people were killed in a North Carolina plane crash 30 years ago

CHARLOTTE, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — It fell from the sky. Like a rug being pulled out from under you. That is how the captain of a doomed USAir flight described the crash that killed 37 passengers. It happened on a stormy approach to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

Tuesday marks the 30th anniversary. A lot has changed since then. Chief Transportation Correspondent and Pilot Maycay Beeler remembers USAir flight 1016 with two professionals who worked the crash scene.

To this day, they said it remains the most tragic event they have ever covered.

“The plane broke into three sections when it crashed on approach into Charlotte-Douglas International Airport,” Reporter Mark Rumsey said.

“I’ve seen the result of war, famine, but to see this in my own backyard really struck me,” Photojournalist Terrance Allen said, who covered the crash.

“Parts of the wreckage slammed into a house that officials say was unoccupied at the time,” Rumsey explained.

“It’s something that stays with you. You don’t just forget about it, a lasting memory,” Col. Steve Martin said, who is now retired.

“Several crash victims suffered serious burns, others had broken bones,” Rumsey said,

“I can still visualize seeing the aircraft over there in the trees, pretty sobering you know, pretty sobering,” Allen said.

“USAir said all five crew members survived apparently without critical injuries,” Rumsey said.

“I was like most people that worked the site that day. I was sunburned, dehydrated, emotionally, physically, mentally worn-out because you see things that people should not have to see,” Martin said.

It was July 3, 1994. The morning after one of the darkest days in Charlotte’s aviation history. That’s when Col. Steve Martin and Photojournalist Terrance Allen found themselves working at a smoldering grave site.

“It really shakes you to the core,” Allen said.

“You look at life a little bit differently when you see death on a large scale, when you see how fragile life can be,” Martin said.

The colonel served as the disaster preparedness officer for the 145th Airlift Wing of the North Carolina Air National Guard.

His job, that day, was to direct the body’s recovery. Of the 57 people onboard USAir flight 1016, 37 died in the fiery crash.

“It was a day when the first body you recover is an infant, and as a parent…that gives you a different perspective on everything,” Martin said.

For Allen, it wasn’t just another day covering breaking news.

“The thing that stood out to me was standing there and seeing this broken up fuselage and the debris field and standing there looking at the flight deck or cockpit, a few feet from it, and I’m thinking, my goodness…I felt so bad for the people involved,” Allen said.

It was one of the worst air disasters in Charlotte’s history. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the crash was the result of wind shear — rapidly shifting winds from a thunderstorm-induced microburst — a violent downdraft that slammed the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 to the ground. It happened in the blink of an eye after the pilots aborted a landing during an intense rainstorm on approach to the airport.

“When you see children and older people…no one should have to die in that manner…when you see that, it changes you…things can be calm one minute, and the next can be a disaster,” Martin said.

Although a few previous wind shear accidents had made headlines, little was known about the destructive forces of microbursts. Retired United Airlines Captain and Aero Consulting Expert Ross Aimer said almost all regulations and safety rules are written in blood.

Crashes like USAir 1016 were valuable lessons in how we deal with one of the greatest forces in nature — the weather.

“Before Flight 1016…after, congress pushed for Doppler radar to be installed in the nation’s busiest airports, including Charlotte,” Chief Meteorologist Tara Lane said.

No words can lessen the grief of the families of the loved ones lost in Flight 1016.

Significant positive changes and new safety measures resulted from the accident. Better training for pilots and air traffic controllers, better decision-making, advancements in weather prediction, thunderstorm avoidance, and wind shear detection. It was a game-changer. As a result, USAir Flight 1016 was the last U.S. airline passenger jet to crash from wind shear.

There is a new airport overlook at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. It is chock full of play space. A happy place of family fun. Laughter. Kids full of life. In stark contrast, just yards away, sits the memorial for USAir Flight 1016.

A solemn place to remember, reflect, and pay respects to all affected by the crash.

“It’s an interesting place to put a memorial, in a place of such happiness and frivolity,” Allen said. “I think when you go by and see that memorial, it reminds you, to put all your petty beefs away with people. Hug your wife, your kids…family, call mom and dad…we’re not guaranteed tomorrow.”

“Those people got on a plane going on vacation or business or whatever they had to do, and now 37 of them aren’t here anymore.”

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