Delta Air Lines Flight 191

Delta Air Lines Flight 191

The wreckage of Flight 191's tail section, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. A Boeing 727 can be seen in the background.
Accident summary
Date	August 2, 1985
Summary	Microburst
Site	Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport 32°55′06″N 097°01′25″W / 32.91833°N 97.02361°W / 32.91833; -97.02361Coordinates: 32°55′06″N 097°01′25″W / 32.91833°N 97.02361°W / 32.91833; -97.02361
Passengers	152
Crew	11
Fatalities	137 (including 1 on ground)
Injuries (non-fatal)	28 (including 1 on ground)
Survivors	27
Aircraft type	Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar
Operator	Delta Air Lines
Registration	N726DA
Flight origin	Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport
Stopover	Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Destination	Los Angeles International Airport

Delta Air Lines Flight 191 was a regularly scheduled Delta Air Lines domestic service from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Los Angeles, via Dallas that crashed on August 2, 1985, at 18:05 (UTC−05:00). The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar operating this flight encountered a microburst while on approach to land on runway 17L (now marked 17C) at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The pilots were unable to escape the weather event and the aircraft struck the ground over a mile short of the runway. The flight hit a car driving north of the airport and two water tanks, disintegrating. The crash killed 136 people on board, including 128 of the 152 passengers and 8 of the 11 crew, and the driver of the car. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the crash resulted from the flight crew's decision to fly through a thunderstorm, the lack of procedures and training to avoid or escape microbursts, and the lack of hazard information on wind shear.

The aircraft was a Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar (registration number N726DA). It was delivered to Delta on February 28, 1979, and had been operated continuously by the airline since that date. The aircraft was powered by three Rolls-Royce RB211-22B engines.

Flight 191 was manned by three flight crewmen and eight cabin crew members.

The captain, Edward N. Connors, age 57, had been employed by Delta Air Lines since 1954. He qualified to captain the TriStar in 1979 and had passed his proficiency checks. The NTSB report mentioned that other flight crew that had flown with Connors prior to the accident described him as a meticulous pilot who strictly adhered to company policies. The report also reported that Connors "deviated around thunderstorms even if other flights took more direct routes" and "willingly accepted suggestions from his flightcrew." Since his qualification in 1979, Connors had passed all eight of the ten route inspections he had undergone, and the NTSB report notes that he had received "favorable comments" regarding "cockpit discipline and standardization." Connors had logged over 29,300 hours of flight time, 3,000 of which had been in the TriStar.