On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River just after takeoff

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I walked over to the crash site from central Alexandria that night. Ideas like that used to make sense to me.

Air Florida Flight 90

Coordinates: 38°52'35"N 77°02'33"W


A Boeing 737-222 operated by Air Florida, similar to the one involved

Accident
Date: January 13, 1982
Summary: Stalled and crashed shortly after take off due to lack of de-icing and pilot error
Site: Potomac River, Washington, D.C.
8°52'35"N 77°02'33"W
Total fatalities: 78
Total injuries: 9
Aircraft
Occupants: 79
Passengers: 74
Crew: 5
Fatalities: 74
Injuries: 5 (initially 6)
Survivors: 5 (initially 6)
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities: 4
Ground injuries: 4

Air Florida Flight 90 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight operated by Air Florida from Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) to Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, with an intermediate stopover at Tampa International Airport. On January 13, 1982, the Boeing 737-222 registered as N62AF crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River just after take off from Washington National Airport.

Striking the bridge, which carries Interstate 395 between Washington, DC, and Arlington County, Virginia, it hit seven occupied vehicles and destroyed 97 feet (30 m) of guard rail  before plunging through the ice into the Potomac River. The aircraft was carrying 74 passengers and five crew members. Only four passengers and one crew member (a flight attendant) were rescued from the crash and survived. Another passenger, Arland D. Williams, Jr., assisted in the rescue of the survivors, but drowned before he could be rescued. Four motorists on the bridge were killed. The survivors were rescued from the icy river by civilians and professionals. President Ronald Reagan commended these acts during his State of the Union speech 13 days later.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the cause of the accident was pilot error. The pilots failed to switch on the engines' internal ice protection systems, used reverse thrust in a snowstorm prior to takeoff, tried to use the jet exhaust of a plane in front of them to melt their ice, and failed to abandon the takeoff even after detecting a power problem while taxiing and having ice and snow build up on the wings. On March 5, 1982 the Washington Post described possible de-icing solution and mixture problems.

{snip}

From appalachiablue, this from 2023. It has lots of video links and pictures.

Fri Jan 13, 2023: Horror & Heroism, Air Florida Plane Crash, Wash. DC, Jan. 13, 1982- 41 Yrs Ago: Graphic Images, Info

From elleng:

Thu Jan 13, 2022: Hard to believe it's been 40 years since the Air Florida crash into the 14th Street Bridge

Fri Jan 14, 2022: Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten about that.

I think Dennis Donovan had a thread about that a few years back. I'll look for it.

On the same day, there was a fatality on the Metro, which is probably why you were walking.

WTOP Retweeted

Today marks 40 years since Jan. 13, 1982 — the snowy day Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge, and Metrorail experienced its first fatal derailment. A reporter reflects on changes in how breaking news is now covered.

40 years ago on WTOP: Air Florida crash, fatal Metro derailment, snowstorm | WTOP News
Today marks 40 years since Jan. 13, 1982 — the snowy day Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge, and Metrorail experienced its first fatal

Link to tweet

The story of Arland D. Williams, Jr., The Citadel Class of 1957, the man who passed the life ring to others.

{snip the weepy Reagan tweet}

40 years ago, a 737 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge during a snowstorm, killing 78

40 years ago, a 737 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge during a snowstorm, killing 78
The date also marked the first deaths on the Metrorail system after a train derailed.

Link to tweet

Sun Jan 28, 2024: On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River just after takeoff

Wed Jan 14, 2015: January 13 was the anniversary of the Air Florida crash.

Air Florida Flight 90

Air Florida Flight 90 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight from Washington National Airport to Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport with an intermediate stopover at Tampa International Airport. On January 13, 1982, the Boeing 737-200 registered as N62AF, crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River. The aircraft had originally been purchased by United Airlines in 1969 and flown with the registration number of N9050U. It was sold to Air Florida in 1980.

The aircraft struck the 14th Street Bridge, which carries Interstate 395 between Washington, D.C. and Arlington County. It crushed seven occupied vehicles on the bridge and destroyed 97 feet (30 m) of guard rail before it plunged through the ice into the Potomac River. The crash occurred less than two miles (3 km) from the White House and within view of both the Jefferson Memorial and The Pentagon. The aircraft was carrying 74 passengers and five crewmembers. Four passengers and one flight attendant survived the crash. Four motorists from the bridge were killed. The survivors were rescued from the icy river by civilians and professionals. President Ronald Reagan commended these acts during his State of the Union speech a few days later.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the cause of the accident was pilot error. The pilots failed to switch on the engines' internal ice protection systems, used reverse thrust in a snowstorm prior to takeoff, and failed to abort the takeoff even after detecting a power problem while taxiing and visually identifying ice and snow buildup on the wings.

I recall it well. My grandmother was sitting at the front window watching the snow come down. The news came on the radio, and all the television stations sent crews to the scene. Rescue efforts were covered in real time (but the phrase "in real time" was not in use then, right?).

That night, I walked - yes, walked - from the middle of Alexandria to the crash site. No one was expecting onlookers, so I was able to walk onto the south end of the highway bridge. The Renault LeCar that appears in so many pictures was still there.

A half-hour later, there was a fatal Metrorail derailment:

1982 Washington Metro train derailment

The 1982 Washington Metro train derailment was an incident involving a single Orange Line Washington Metro train during the afternoon rush hour of January 13, 1982, in Downtown Washington, D.C. in the United States. The train derailed as it was being backed up from an improperly closed rail switch between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stations, and caused the deaths of three passengers. Several survivors were trapped for hours, and 25 were injured.[2] The incident was the first resulting in a fatality involving the Metro system and remained as the deadliest incident occurring in the system until the June 22, 2009 collision that resulted in nine fatalities.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. Omg. 43 years ago. I was trying to get home from Foggy Bottom to Fairfax City.

Took my carpool over 4 hours to make it and we listened to the radio in horror. We used the Roosevelt Bridge.

Martin Leonard Skutnik III (born 1953 in Mississippi, known as Lenny)[1][2] is a retired employee of the United States Congressional Budget Office[3] who, on January 13, 1982, saved the life of Priscilla Tirado following the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 into the frozen Potomac River, Washington, D.C. As passengers were being rescued, Tirado was too weak to take hold of the line dropped from a helicopter. Skutnik—one of hundreds of bystanders—dove into the icy water and brought her to the river bank.[4]

U.S. President Ronald Reagan invited Skutnik to attend the 1982 State of the Union address on January 26, 1982, where he sat next to First Lady Nancy Reagan; Reagan praised Skutnik as manifesting "the spirit of American heroism at its finest". Since then, others invited to sit in the Presidential gallery and honored in the president's speech have often been called Lenny Skutniks.[5][6]

Skutnik received the United States Coast Guard's Gold Lifesaving Medal, the Carnegie Hero Fund Medal, and various other tributes.[1][2] In 2010 he retired from his position as a printing and distribution assistant for the Congressional Budget Office.[7]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Skutnik