World Airways Flight 802

World Airways Flight 802
	A World Airways DC-8 sister ship of the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	8 September 1973
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	King Cove, Alaska ; 55°11′21″N 162°15′52″W / 55.1893°N 162.2645°W
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-8-63CF
Operator	World Airways
Call sign	WORLD 802
Registration	N802WA
Flight origin	Travis AFB, California
1st stopover	Cold Bay Airport, Alaska
Last stopover	Yokota AFB, Japan
Destination	Clark AFB, Philippines
Occupants	6
Passengers	3
Crew	3
Fatalities	6
Survivors	0

On September 8, 1973, a Douglas DC-8 operated by World Airways as World Airways Flight 802 crashed on high ground while on approach to Cold Bay Airport, Alaska, killing all six people on board.^[1]

The official accident investigation concluded that the probable cause was the captain's non-adherence to published instrument approach procedures for the destination airport.

History of the flight[edit]

Flight 802 was a contract cargo flight for the US Military Airlift Command from Travis AFB, California, to Clark AFB, Philippines; Cold Bay was the first planned stopover. The flight crew consisted of Captain John A. Weininger (52), First Officer Gregg W. Evans (27), and Flight Engineer Robert W. Brocklesby (46), while on board were also three non-revenue passengers, including two company employees.

The aircraft operating flight 802 was a four-engine Douglas DC-8-63CF jetliner, registration N802WA,^[2] which had entered service two years earlier, in 1971. Maintenance records for the aircraft did not highlight any significant problem.^[3]

Final descent and crash[edit]

After an uneventful flight from Travis, the aircraft descended in cloud towards Cold Bay Airport, straying significantly off-course and into an area of poor radio navigation reception, until at 05:42 AKDT it struck Mount Dutton at an altitude of 3,500 ft (1,100 m).^[3]

References[edit]

^ "Crashed jet found; crew dead". Chicago Tribune. September 10, 1973. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
^ "FAA Registry (N802WA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
^ ^a ^b Aircraft Accident Report, World Airways, Inc., DC-8-63F, N802WA, King Cove, Alaska, September 8, 1973 (PDF) (Report). National Transportation Safety Board. May 8, 1974. NTSB-AAR-74-6. Retrieved 11 November 2016. - Copy at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

[1] "Crashed jet found; crew dead". Chicago Tribune. September 10, 1973. Retrieved 11 November 2016.

[2] "FAA Registry (N802WA)". Federal Aviation Administration.

[NTSB_report-3] Aircraft Accident Report, World Airways, Inc., DC-8-63F, N802WA, King Cove, Alaska, September 8, 1973 (PDF) (Report). National Transportation Safety Board. May 8, 1974. NTSB-AAR-74-6. Retrieved 11 November 2016. - Copy at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

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[2]

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v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1970s
1970	Cornfield Bomber Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320 Trans International Airlines Flight 863 Wichita State University football team plane crash Southern Airways Flight 932 Capitol International Airways Flight C2C3/26
1971	B-52C Lake Michigan crash Colorado Aviation Aero Commander 680 crash Hughes Airwest Flight 706 Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 Pan Am Flight 845 Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 (see D. B. Cooper)
1972	Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570 American Airlines Flight 96 Prinair Flight 191 Lake Winnebago mid-air collision Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710 Delta Air Lines Flight 841 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident Southern Airways Flight 49 United Air Lines Flight 553 Chicago–O'Hare runway collision Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash
1973	DeKalb–Peachtree Airport Learjet crash Ozark Air Lines Flight 809 Delta Air Lines Flight 723 TWA Flight 742 World Airways Flight 802 Texas International Airlines Flight 655 Pan Am Flight 160 National Airlines Flight 27 Iberia Flight 933
1974	Commonwealth Commuter Flight 317 Pan Am Flight 806 Delta Air Lines Flight 523 Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 TWA Flight 514 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231
1975	Golden West Airlines Flight 261 Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 Wien Air Alaska Flight 99 Overseas National Airways Flight 032
1976	Alaska Airlines Flight 60 American Airlines Flight 625 Air Manila Flight 702 TWA Flight 355
1977	Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045 Southern Airways Flight 242 Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 Encino helicopter crash Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash Air Indiana Flight 216 United Airlines Flight 2860 Vieques Air Link crash
1978	Continental Airlines Flight 603 United Airlines Flight 696 National Airlines Flight 193 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 Air Caribbean Flight 309 TWA Flight 541 United Airlines Flight 173
1979	TWA Flight 841 American Airlines Flight 191 Downeast Airlines Flight 46 Air New England Flight 248 American Airlines Flight 293 American Airlines Flight 444
This list is incomplete. ALM Flight 980 ditched in waters near St. Croix. Flying Tiger Line Flight 45 occurred in the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands