Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105
N100ME, the aircraft involved in the accident, in May 1985 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 6, 1985 |
| Summary | Uncontained engine failure on takeoff leading loss of control due to pilot error and poor FAA oversight |
| Site | Near General Mitchell International Airport, Oak Creek, Wisconsin, United States 42°55′41.1″N 87°54′03.9″W / 42.928083°N 87.901083°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14 |
| Operator | Midwest Express Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | YX105 |
| ICAO flight No. | MEP105 |
| Call sign | MIDEX 105 |
| Registration | N100ME |
| Flight origin | Dane County Regional Airport, Madison, Wisconsin, United States |
| Stopover | General Mitchell Int'l Airport, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States |
| Destination | Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Int'l Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Occupants | 31 |
| Passengers | 27 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 31 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight that crashed into an open field in Oak Creek, Wisconsin shortly after taking off from General Mitchell International Airport on September 6, 1985. The airplane, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, was carrying 31 passengers and crew. None of them survived the crash.
Multiple eyewitnesses reported that the plane was on fire shortly after it took off from the airport. The fire was caused due to a failure on the right engine where one of its removable sleeve spacers detached. The removable sleeve spacer suffered metal fatigue that caused the engine to explode.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the investigation team who was responsible for the investigation of the crash, concluded that despite the plane suffering engine failure, it was still controllable, and instead the response of the crew to the failure was the main cause of the accident. The crew failed to properly control the plane during the emergency. Breakdown of the crew's coordination, and poor FAA oversight also contributed to the crash.