Incident Overview

Date: Wednesday 17 February 1971
Aircraft Type: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15
Owner/operator: Southern Airways
Registration Number: N92S
Location: Gulfport Municipal Airport, MS (GPT) – ÿ United States of America
Phase of Flight: Approach
Status: Substantial, repaired
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 11
Component Affected: Left main landing gear, left wing leading edge, and left fuselageLeft main landing gear, left wing leading edge, and left fuselage
Investigating Agency: NTSBNTSB
Category: Accident
Southern Airways Flight 41 experienced a near-miss landing due to a faulty electrical transmission line. The aircraft successfully executed a go-around after receiving significant damage to its landing gear, wing, and fuselage. A weather observation revealed reduced visibility, contributing to the incident.Southern Airways Flight 41 experienced a near-miss landing due to a faulty electrical transmission line. The aircraft successfully executed a go-around after receiving significant damage to its landing gear, wing, and fuselage. A weather observation revealed reduced visibility, contributing to the incident.

Description

Southern Airways Flight 41, a scheduled air carrier passenger and cargo flight, struck an electric transmission line static cable during a VOR/DME approach to runway 13 at the Gulfport Municipal Airport. A successful go-around was accomplished and the aircraft was landed at Gulfport without further incident. The aircraft received substantial damage to the left main landing gear, left wing leading edge, and left fuselage. The left engine sustained foreign object ingestion damage. There was no fire. A special weather observation made at the Gulfport Municipal Airport at 08:05 showed a partial obscuration with visibility three quarters of a mile in fog. The wind was from 040 degrees at 6 knots. PROBABLE CAUSE: “Inadequate monitoring of the approach. The captain was preoccupied with the prelanding checklist during the final approach and the first officer, who was flying the aircraft, was devoting his attention to an attempt to establish visual contact with the runway in low visibility. These activities resulted in an improperly executed VOR/DME approach during which the aircraft descended below the minimum descent altitude before the crew acquired visual contact with the runway environment.”

Primary Cause

Inadequate monitoring of the approach.Inadequate monitoring of the approach.

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