Delta Air Lines Flight 191

The accident aircraft was a Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar (registration number N726DA).{{cite book |url=https://ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR8605.pdf |title=Aircraft Accident Report, Delta Air Lines, Inc., Lockheed L-1011-385-1, N726DA, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, August 2, 1985 |date=August 15, 1986 |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |id=NTSB/AAR-86/05}}{{Reference page|page=1}} It was delivered to Delta Air Lines on February 28, 1979, and had operated continuously until the accident.{{Reference page|page=93}} Three Rolls-Royce RB211-22B engines powered the aircraft.{{Cite web|title=Delta Air Lines N726DA (Lockheed L-1011 TriStar - MSN 1163)|url=https://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-l10-1163.htm|website=www.airfleets.net|publisher=Airfleets aviation|access-date=2020-05-07}}

The crew consisted of three flight crew members and eight cabin crew members. Of the 11 crew members, only 3 flight attendants survived.{{Reference page|page=75}}

In command of Flight 191 was Captain Edward Michael "Ted" Connors Jr., aged 57, had been a Delta employee since 1954. He qualified to captain the TriStar in 1979 and had passed his proficiency checks.{{Reference page|page=92}} The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) mentioned in its final report that past flight crews who had flown with Connors described him as a meticulous pilot who strictly adhered to company policies.{{Reference page|page=6}} The report also stated that Connors "deviated around thunderstorms even if other flights took more direct routes" and "willingly accepted suggestions from his flight crew."{{Reference page|page=6}} Since his qualification in 1979, Connors had passed all eight en route inspections that he had undergone; the NTSB report also noted that he had received "favorable comments" regarding "cockpit discipline and standardization."{{Reference page|page=6}} Connors had logged over 29,300 hours of flight time, 3,000 of them in the TriStar.{{Reference page|page=92}}

First Officer Rudolph Przydzial "Rudy" Price Jr., age 42, had been a Delta employee since 1970.{{Reference page|page=92}} Delta captains who flew with Price described him as an "above average first officer" who possessed "excellent knowledge" of the TriStar.{{Reference page|page=7}} Price had logged 6,500 flight hours, including 1,200 in the TriStar.{{Reference page|page=92}} Flight Engineer Nicholas Nestor "Nick" Nassick, age 43, had been a Delta employee since 1976. He had logged 6,500 hours of flight time, including 4,500 in the TriStar. Fellow Delta employees described Nassick as "observant, alert, and professional."{{Reference page|page=7}}

Connors had served with the United States Navy from 1950 to 1954 and fought during two tours in the Korean War. Price had served with the United States Navy from 1964 to 1970 and fought in four tours in the Vietnam War. Nassick had served with the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1976 and had fought in four tours during the Vietnam War.{{Reference page|page=92}}{{cite news |title=Crash of Flight 191: As They Are Remembered |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |date=August 11, 1985}}{{cite web |url=http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2012/April/1/Revisiting-a-Tragedy |title=Revisiting a Tragedy |last=Hirschman |first=Dave |publisher=Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association |date=April 1, 2012 |access-date=January 8, 2016}}

Of the 152 passengers, 128 were killed by the crash. Twelve of the twenty-four survivors were seated in a cluster near the tail of the aircraft.{{Cite news|date=August 4, 1985|title=The Casualties and Survivors of Delta Crash|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/04/us/the-casualties-and-survivors-of-delta-crash.html|access-date=September 26, 2018|issn=0362-4331}} The NTSB report lists 126 passenger fatalities rather than 128, but notes that two of the passengers listed as survivors died more than thirty days after the crash, on September 13{{Cite news|title=Miami Man Dies from Delta Crash Injuries|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1985-09-15-0330060124-story.html|date=September 15, 1985|work=Orlando Sentinel|publisher=United Press International|access-date=September 21, 2019}} and October 4, 1985.{{efn|name="fatality footnote"}} Of the dead, seventy-three originated from the Miami metropolitan area; forty-five were from Broward County, nineteen were from Palm Beach County and nine were from Dade County.{{Cite news|last1=Connelly|first1=Michael|author-link=Michael Connelly|last2=McClure|first2=Robert|last3=Reinke|first3=Malinda|date=July 27, 1986|title=Will Help Ever Get Here?|page=4|work=Sun-Sentinel|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-07-27/features/8602140272_1_seat-belt-unbuckled-wreckage/4|access-date=August 3, 2015|archive-date=August 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150808054622/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-07-27/features/8602140272_1_seat-belt-unbuckled-wreckage/4|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|last=Kaye|first=Ken|date=1995-07-30|title=THE SURVIVORS|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1995-07-30-9507290236-story.html|access-date=2021-03-15|website=Sun-Sentinel}}

Among the deaths was Don Estridge, known to the world as the father of the IBM PC; he died aboard the flight along with his wife.{{Cite episode |title=Invisible Killer |series=Mayday |season=5 |network=Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic Channel |year=2008}} Two IBM summer interns, four IBM employees from the IBM branch office in Burbank, California, and six additional family members of IBM employees also perished.{{cite news|last=Sanger|first=David E.|date=August 5, 1985|title=Philip Estridge Dies in Jet Crash; Guided IBM Personal Computer|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/05/us/philip-estridge-dies-in-jet-crash-guided-ibm-personal-computer.html|access-date=March 15, 2015|issn=0362-4331}}

File:Delta 191 wreckage.jpg approaches to land.]]

Flight 191 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport, with a scheduled stop at Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The flight departed Fort Lauderdale on an instrument flight rules flight plan at 14:10 Central Daylight Time (UTC−05:00).{{Reference page|page=1}}{{cite news |title=The Ill-Fated Voyage of Flight 191 |last=Bedell |first=Doug |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |date=August 4, 1985}}{{efn|name="time footnote"|The NTSB report describes Flight 191 as departing Fort Lauderdale at 15:10 Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−04:00). All other times given in the NTSB report are in Central Daylight Time (UTC−05:00).{{Reference page|page=1}} For consistency and ease of reading, all times in this article are in Central Daylight Time.}} The flight's dispatch weather forecast for DFW stated a "possibility of widely scattered rain showers and thunderstorms."{{Reference page|page=1}} Another dispatch weather alert warned of "an area of isolated thunderstorms ... over Oklahoma and northern and northeastern Texas."{{Reference page|page=1}} The flight crew reviewed these notices before takeoff.{{Reference page|page=2}}

As the aircraft flew past New Orleans, Louisiana, a weather formation near the Gulf Coast strengthened. The flight crew decided to deviate from the intended route to make the more northerly Blue Ridge arrival to DFW.{{Reference page|page=2}} The flight held for ten to fifteen minutes over the Texarkana, Arkansas, VORTAC. At 17:35, the crew received an Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) broadcast for weather on approach to DFW, and the Fort Worth Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) air traffic controller cleared the flight to the Blue Ridge, Texas, VORTAC and instructed the flight to descend to {{convert|25000|ft|m}}.{{Reference page|pages=2,99}}

At 17:43:45, the Fort Worth ARTCC controller cleared the flight down to {{convert|10000|ft|m}}.{{Reference page|page=2}} The controller suggested they fly a heading of 250° toward the Blue Ridge approach, but Connors replied that the route would take them through a storm cell, stating, "I'd rather not go through it, I'd rather go around it one way or the other."{{Reference page|page=2}} After a brief exchange, the controller gave the flight a new heading.{{Reference page|page=2}} At 17:46:50, the controller cleared the flight direct to Blue Ridge and instructed the crew to descend to {{convert|9000|ft|m}}. Connors expressed his relief that the controller did not send them on the original trajectory.{{Reference page|page=2}} At 17:51:19, Nassick commented, "Looks like it's raining over Fort Worth."{{Reference page|page=114}} At 17:51:42, the Fort Worth ARTCC controller transferred the flight to DFW Airport Approach Control, which cleared the flight to descend to {{convert|7000|ft|m}}.{{Reference page|page=2}} Two minutes later, the controller asked Flight 191 to deviate by 10° and to slow their airspeed to {{convert|180|kn|mph km/h}}. The crew acknowledged the request.{{Reference page|page=116}} As the flight descended, the crew prepared the aircraft for landing. At 17:56:19, the feeder controller cleared the flight down to {{convert|5000|ft|m}}. Nine seconds later, the controller announced that rain was north of the airport, and that the airport would be using instrument landing system (ILS) approaches.{{Reference page|page=117}}

At 17:59:47, Price said, "We're gonna get our airplane washed."{{Reference page|page=122}}{{Cite news|last=Gibson|first=William E.|date=1985-10-01|title=Delta Crew Sensed Trouble Transcript Traces Last Minutes of Flight 191|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1985-10-01-8502110289-story.html|access-date=2021-03-15|work=Sun-Sentinel}} Around the same time, Connors switched to the arrival radio frequency and informed the approach controller that they were flying at {{convert|5000|ft|m}}. The controller replied that the flight should expect to approach Runway 17L (later named 17C). At 18:00:36, the approach controller asked an American Airlines flight that was two aircraft ahead of Flight 191, and on the same approach, if they could see the airport.{{Reference page|page=3}} The American Airlines flight responded, "As soon as we break out of this rain shower, we will."{{Reference page|page=123}} At 18:00:51, Flight 191 was instructed to slow to {{convert|170|kn|mph km/h}} and to turn to heading 270°. Flight 191 was instructed to descend to {{convert|3000|ft|m}} at 18:01:34.{{Reference page|page=124}} One minute later, the approach controller turned the flight toward Runway 17L and cleared them for an ILS approach at or above {{convert|2300|ft|m}}.{{Reference page|page=3}} Half a minute afterward, the controller asked the flight to reduce their speed to {{convert|160|kn|mph km/h}}, which the crew acknowledged. At 18:03:30 the controller advised, "And we're getting some variable winds out there due to a shower ... out there north end of DFW."{{Reference page|page=3}} Several seconds later, an unidentified flight crew member commented, "Stuff is moving in."{{Reference page|page=129}}

Just {{convert|3|mi|spell=in||}} ahead of Flight 191, a Learjet 25 was on the same approach to Runway 17L.{{Reference page|page=3}} While on final approach, the Learjet flew through the storm north of the airport and encountered what was later described as "light to moderate turbulence". The Learjet encountered heavy rain and lost all forward visibility, but was able to continue its ILS approach and land safely.{{Reference page|page=19}} When later asked why he did not report weather conditions to the tower, the Learjet's captain testified that he had nothing to report because "the only thing that we encountered was the heavy rain."{{Reference page|page=20}} The tower controller handling landings on Runway 17L saw lightning from the storm cell after the Learjet landed, but before he saw Flight 191 emerge from the storm.{{Reference page|page=66}}

File:Delta191-PathToImpact.png

At 18:03:46, the approach controller once again asked Flight 191 to reduce its speed, this time to {{convert|150|kn|mph}}, and then handed the flight over to the tower controller. Twelve seconds later, Connors radioed the tower and said, "Tower[:] Delta one ninety one heavy, out here in the rain, feels good."{{Reference page|page=130}} The tower controller advised Flight 191 that the wind was blowing at {{convert|5|kn|mph m/s}} with gusts up to {{convert|15|kn|mph m/s}}, which the captain acknowledged.{{Reference page|page=130}} The flight crew lowered the landing gear and extended their flaps for landing. At 18:04:18, Price commented, "Lightning coming out of that one. ... Right ahead of us."{{Reference page|page=131}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.tailstrike.com/020885.htm |title=Delta 191 CVR Transcript |website=www.tailstrike.com|access-date=September 26, 2018}} Connors called out that they were at {{convert|1000|ft|m}} at 18:05:05. Fourteen seconds later, he cautioned Price to watch his airspeed.{{Reference page|page=3}}{{Cite news|last=Witkin|first=Richard|date=1985-10-01|title=Crew in Dallas Saw Bad Weather Ahead|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/01/us/crew-in-dallas-saw-bad-weather-ahead.html|access-date=2021-03-15|issn=0362-4331}} At the same time, the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) captured the beginning of a sound identified as rain hitting the cockpit.{{Reference page|page=3}} Connors warned Price, "You're gonna lose it all of a sudden, there it is."{{Reference page|page=3}} At 18:05:26, Connors told Price, "Push it up, push it way up."{{Reference page|page=3}} Several seconds later, the CVR recorded the sound of the engines spooling up. Connors then said, "That's it."{{Reference page|page=3}} At 18:05:36, Connors exclaimed, "Hang on to the son of a bitch!"{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ha7oDLZzpw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/3ha7oDLZzpw |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Delta Air Lines Flight 191 CVR Audio |date=August 2, 1985 |publisher=Delta Air Lines |medium=Audio recording}}{{cbignore}}{{cite book|last=Cox|first=Mike|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rnIIogEACAAJ|title=Texas Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2015|isbn=9781493013166|page=201}} From this point, the aircraft began a descent from which it never recovered. The angle of attack (AOA) was over 30° and began to vary wildly over the next few seconds.{{Reference page|page=164}} The pitch angle began to sink and the aircraft started descending below the glideslope.{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY7pH3fzsvY |title=Delta 191 Animation – Connors v. United States |publisher=Z-Axis Corporation |year=1988 |medium=Computer simulation}}

At 18:05:44, with the aircraft descending at more than {{convert|3000|ft/min|m/s mph}}{{Reference page|page=164}} the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) sounded.{{Reference page|page=4}} The captain responded by declaring "TOGA", aviation shorthand for the order to apply maximum thrust and abort a landing by going around.{{Reference page|page=4}} The first officer responded by pulling up and raising the nose of the aircraft, which slowed but did not stop the plane's descent. At 18:05:52, still descending at a rate around {{convert|600|ft/min|m/s mph}},{{Reference page|page=40}} the aircraft's landing gear made contact with a plowed field {{convert|6336|ft|m}} north of the runway and {{convert|360|ft|m}} east of the runway centerline.{{Reference page|page=25}} Remaining structurally intact, Flight 191 remained on the ground while rolling at high speed across the farmland.{{Reference page|pages=25,40}} The main landing gear left shallow depressions in the field that extended for {{convert|240|ft|m}} before disappearing and reappearing a few times as the aircraft approached Texas State Highway 114.{{Reference page|page=25}}

The aircraft struck a highway street light, and its nose gear touched down on the westbound lane of Highway 114, skidding across the road at at least {{convert|200|mph|knot km/h||}}.{{Cite news |last=Tuckwood |first=Jan |date=2015-07-30 |title=Delta 191 crash; 'I'm not a hero. I'm a survivor.' |work=The Palm Beach Post |url=https://www.palmbeachpost.com/article/20150730/entertainment/812028283 |url-status=dead |access-date=September 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126071843/https://www.palmbeachpost.com/article/20150730/entertainment/812028283 |archive-date=January 26, 2021}} The aircraft's left engine hit a 1971 Toyota Celica driven by 28-year-old William Mayberry, killing him instantly.{{Cite news |date=August 6, 2015 |title=Mayberry's death epitome of tragic |work=The Vicksburg Post |url=http://www.vicksburgpost.com/2015/08/06/mayberrys-death-epitome-of-tragic/ |access-date=September 21, 2019}}{{Reference page|page=25}} As the aircraft continued south, it hit two more street lights on the eastbound side of the highway and began fragmenting. The left horizontal stabilizer, some engine pieces, portions of the wing control surfaces and parts of the nose gear came off the aircraft as it continued along the ground. Some witnesses later testified that fire was emerging from the left wing root.{{Reference page|page=4}} Surviving passengers reported that fire began entering the cabin through the left wall while the plane was still moving.{{Reference page|page=28}} One survivor stated that he watched passengers attempt to escape the fire by unbuckling their seatbelts and trying to flee, but they were sucked out of the plane, while others who stayed caught on fire due to leaking jet fuel. He only survived due to being doused by rain from openings in the plane. The aircraft's motion across open land ended when it crashed into two water tanks on the edge of the airport property; the aircraft grazed one water tank about {{convert|1700|ft|m}} south of Highway 114, and then struck the second one. As the left-wing and nose struck the water tank, the fuselage rotated counterclockwise and was engulfed in a fireball.{{Reference page|page=4}} The fuselage from the nose rearward to row 34 was destroyed.{{Reference page|page=28}} The tail section emerged from the fireball, skidding backward and came to rest on its left side before wind gusts rotated it upright.{{Reference page|page=4}}

File:Delta191-CabinSeatDiagram.svg

All airport fire and emergency units were alerted within one minute of the crash. Forty-five seconds after first being alerted, three fire trucks from the airport's fire station No. 3 arrived at the crash and began fighting the fire. Additional units from fire stations No. 1 and No. 2 arrived within five minutes, and despite high wind gusts and heavy rain, the fire was mostly under control within 10 minutes after the alert was sounded.{{Reference page|page=30}}

The first paramedics arrived within five minutes of the crash and immediately established triage stations. In later testimony to NTSB officials, on-site EMTs estimated that without the on-scene triage procedures, at least half of the surviving passengers would have died.{{Reference page|page=30}} Most of the survivors of Flight 191 were located in the aircraft's rear smoking section, which broke free from the main fuselage when the aircraft hit the water tanks.{{Reference page|pages=28–29}} Authorities transported most of the survivors to Parkland Memorial Hospital.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050423-2,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119100349/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050423-2,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 19, 2008 |title=Like a Wall of Napalm |magazine=Time |first=Ed |last=Magnuson |date=April 18, 2005}}

The cockpit and passenger section forward of seat row 34 had been completely fragmented by impact with the water tanks and post-crash fires; all but eight of the occupants in this section were killed. The remainder of the surviving passengers and crew were in the rear cabin and tail section, which separated relatively intact and landed on its side in an open field, and most of these were in the center and right portions of the fuselage from seat row 40 rearwards.{{Reference page|pages=28–29}}{{efn|The left sidewall of the aft fuselage was destroyed during the impact sequence, and the fuselage structure between rows 34 and 40 was extensively disrupted when the tail section separated from the aircraft. Of the fifteen passengers and crew seated in the separated portion of the aft cabin forward of row 40, eleven were killed, three passengers received serious injuries, and one flight attendant suffered minor injuries. From row 40 rearwards, only six fatalities occurred, all of them passengers seated along the destroyed left wall; two occupants on the left side of the aft fuselage survived with serious injuries, while all of the fourteen passengers and flight attendants in the center and right portions of the cabin aft of row 40 survived, eleven of them with no or minor injuries.{{Reference page|pages=28–29}}}} Overall, the disintegration of the Tristar was so extensive that the NTSB investigation was quite difficult. Survivors reported that fire broke out in the cabin prior to hitting the tanks and began spreading through the aircraft's interior, which is consistent with the right wing's collision with the light pole and fuel tank ignition. Some of the people in the tail section were unable to free themselves due to injuries, so rescue crews had to extricate them. Most survivors were also soaked with jet fuel, further adding to the difficulty of exiting the wreckage.{{Reference page|pages=28–30}}

Two of the passengers who initially survived the crash died more than 30 days later. On the ground, an airline employee who assisted in rescuing survivors was hospitalized overnight for chest and arm pain.{{Reference page|page=6}} The crash ultimately killed 137 people, including 128 of the 152 passengers and eight of the 11 crew (including all three flight crew members{{Reference page|page=6}}), and the driver of the car.

Delta Air Lines Flight 191 has the second-highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a Lockheed L-1011 anywhere in the world, after Saudia Flight 163.{{Cite web |last=Ranter |first=Harro |title=ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1 N726DA Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, TX (DFW) |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19850802-0 |access-date=September 21, 2019 |website=Aviation Safety Network |publisher=Flight Safety Foundation}}

Numerous public safety agencies responded to the crash, including the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Irving Fire Department, the Irving Police Department, and all available third-watch personnel from the Dallas Police Department's Northwest Patrol Division and the Northeastern Sector of the Fort Worth Police Department's Patrol Division.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

After a long investigation, the NTSB deemed the cause of the crash to be attributable to pilot error (for their decision to fly through a thunderstorm), combined with extreme weather phenomena associated with microburst-induced wind shear.{{Reference page|page=1}}{{Cite news|last=|date=1986-07-16|title=Air Crew Blamed for 137-Death Crash in Storm|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-16-mn-19650-story.html|access-date=2021-03-15}} The NTSB also determined that a lack of specific training, policies, and procedures for avoiding and escaping low-altitude wind shear was a contributing factor.{{Reference page|page=1}}

The NTSB attributed the accident to lack of the ability to detect microbursts aboard aircraft; the radar equipment aboard aircraft at the time was unable to detect wind changes, only thunderstorms. After the investigation, NASA researchers at Langley Research Center modified a Boeing 737-100 as a testbed for an onboard Doppler weather radar. The resultant airborne wind shear detection and alert system was installed on many commercial airliners in the United States after the Federal Aviation Administration mandated that all commercial aircraft must have on-board wind shear-detection systems.{{Cite web|title=Making the Skies Safe from Windshear|url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/Windshear.html|date=June 1992|website=www.nasa.gov|publisher=NASA|access-date=2020-05-07|archive-date=December 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209145142/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/Windshear.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Making the Skies Safer|url=https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/test-measurement/article/21755636/making-the-skies-safer|author=Allan|first=Roger|date=May 23, 2004|website=www.electronicdesign.com|publisher=Electronic Design|access-date=May 7, 2020}}

The NTSB was also critical of the airport for failing to notify emergency services in surrounding municipalities in a timely manner. While the airport's on-site emergency services were notified almost immediately, the DFW Department of Public Safety (DPS) Communications Center did not begin notifying off-site emergency services until nearly 10 minutes after the crash and did not finish its notifications until 45 minutes after the crash. During notifications, DPS also failed to request ambulances from the adjacent communities of Irving, Grapevine, and Hurst; however, Hurst responded with ambulances after personnel at its ambulance company overheard the airport crash report on a radio-frequency scanner. The NTSB concluded that the overall emergency response was effective due to the rapid response of on-airport personnel, but found "several problem areas" which under different circumstances "could affect adversely the medical treatment and survival of accident victims at the airport".{{Reference page|page=76}}

Following the crash and the ensuing NTSB report, DFW's DPS made improvements to its postcrash notification system, including the introduction of an automated voice notification system to reduce notification times. In 1988, following the crash of Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 while taking off from DFW, DPS completed its notification of nearby emergency services in 21 minutes; the NTSB described this as a "significant improvement" over response times after the Delta Flight 191 crash.{{cite journal |date=September 26, 1989 |title=Delta Air Lines, Inc.; Boeing 727-232, N473DA; Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Texas; August 31, 1988 |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR8904.pdf |journal=Aircraft Accident Report |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |id=NTSB/AAR-89/04 |access-date=January 18, 2016}}{{Reference page|pages=32–33,81–82}} Based on the improved response times, the NTSB issued a Safety Recommendation on January 9, 1990, calling for airport executives nationwide to consider the benefits of using automated voice notification systems for their emergency aid notifications.{{cite book |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/recletters/A89_131_132.pdf |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |title=Safety Recommendation |last=Kolstead |first=James |date=January 9, 1990}} Pilots were also required to train to react to microbursts and to quickly take evasive action in order to safely land the plane.{{Cite news|date=2015-08-02|title=Crash of Delta 191: 30 years since hell 'ripped open'|work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/02/crash-delta-191-30-years-since-hell-ripped-open-dallas/31024123/|access-date=September 26, 2018}}{{cite news |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/20100801-1985-Delta-191-disaster-at-D-7484.ece |title=1985 Delta 191 disaster at D/FW Airport gave rise to broad safety overhaul |last=Torbenson |first=Eric |work=The Dallas Morning News |date=August 2, 2010 |access-date=September 1, 2016 |quote=One of the plane's wing engines struck a car on State Highway 114, killing its driver, and the plane bounced into a water tank and exploded. Of the 163 passengers and crew, all but 29 were killed; two more died later from their injuries.}}{{Cite news|date=2014-01-12|title=Crash of Delta Flight 191 at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport led to safer air travel for millions|work=The Dallas Morning News|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/airlines/2014/01/12/crash-of-delta-flight-191-at-dallas-fort-worth-international-airport-led-to-safer-air-travel-for-millions/|access-date=2020-05-07}}

The Delta Flight 191 crash resulted in the longest aviation trial in American history, lasting 14 months from 1988 to 1989 and presided over by Federal Judge David Owen Belew Jr. of the Northern District of Texas.{{cite court|litigants=In re Air Crash at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport on August 2, 1985|court=N.D. Tex.|reporter=F. Supp.|vol=720|opinion=1258|date=1989|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/720/1258/1768610/}}{{cite court|litigants=In re Air Crash at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport on August 2, 1985|court=5th Cir. |reporter=F.2d|vol=919|opinion=1079|date=1991|url=https://casetext.com/case/in-re-air-crash-at-dallasfort-worth-airport-3}} The trial featured the first use of computer graphic animation as substantive evidence in federal court. While the use of such animation later became routine, its use in the Flight 191 litigation was sufficiently novel that it became the cover story of the December 1989 ABA Journal, the magazine of the American Bar Association.{{cite news|date=December 1989|title=Animated Evidence: Delta 191 crash re-created through computer simulations at trial|page=52|work=ABA Journal|url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/abaj75&div=261&id=&page=}}{{rp|page=52}} Preparing the animated video for trial cost the Department of Justice around $100,000 to $150,000 (inflation adjusted ${{inflation|US|100000|1989|r=-4|fmt=c}} to ${{inflation|US|150000|1989|r=-4|fmt=c}}), and required nearly two years of work. The court found that both government personnel and the Delta flight crew were negligent, but that Delta was ultimately responsible because its pilots' negligence was the proximate cause of the accident, and the ruling was upheld on appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The crash was the subject of the television movie Fire and Rain.{{cite AV media |last=Jameson |first=Jerry |year=1989 |title=Fire and Rain|author-link=Jerry Jameson |medium=Motion picture |location=United States}}

The Discovery Channel Canada/National Geographic television series Mayday dramatized the crash of Flight 191 in a season-five episode titled "Invisible Killer". The crash had previously been discussed in the Mayday season-one episode "Racing the Storm", which covered the weather-related crash landing of American Airlines Flight 1420.{{Cite episode |title=Racing the Storm |series=Mayday |network=Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic Channel |season=1 |year=2003}}

The crash was featured on an episode of When Weather Changed History and Why Planes Crash on The Weather Channel,{{Cite episode |title=Delta 191 Crash |series=When Weather Changed History |network=The Weather Channel |year=2008}} and the episode "Deadly Weather" of Survival in the Sky on The Learning Channel.{{Cite episode |title=Deadly Weather |series=Survival in the Sky |season=1 |network=The Learning Channel / Channel 4 |year=1996}}

The crash was mentioned in the feature film Rain Man.{{cite book|last=Quiroga|first=Rodrigo|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isGu8iwuQxIC&pg=PA101|title=Borges and Memory: Encounters with the Human Brain|publisher=MIT Press|year=2012|isbn=9780262304955|pages=101–102|chapter=Chapter 7}}

Working as a reporter for the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel in 1986, future renowned crime fiction author Michael Connelly and two other reporters conducted extensive interviews of survivors of Delta Flight 191 and wrote an article detailing their experiences during and after the crash.{{cite news |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-07-27/features/8602140270_1_delta-flight-attendants-driveway-car |title=Into The Storm The Story Of Flight 191 |author1=Connelly |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Connelly |last2=McClure |first2=Robert |date=July 27, 1986 |publisher=Sun-Sentinel |last3=Reinke |first3=Malinda |access-date=May 17, 2015 |archive-date=August 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805203320/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-07-27/features/8602140270_1_delta-flight-attendants-driveway-car |url-status=dead }} The article explored the topic of survivor guilt and earned Connelly and his co-writers a finalist position for the Pulitzer Prize.{{cite web |first=Karen G. |last=Anderson |date=February 1999 |url=http://januarymagazine.com/profiles/connelly.html |title=Michael Connelly: Living Two Lives |work=January Magazine |access-date=May 17, 2015}}

Ten years after the crash, survivors and family members of victims gathered in Florida to recognize the tenth anniversary of the accident.{{Cite news |url=https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article164976827.html |title=1985 Delta crash survivor: 'A horrific God-ending-like hell sound' |work=star-telegram|access-date=September 26, 2018 |language=en}} In 2010, 25 years after the accident, a memorial was installed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport's Founders Plaza in Grapevine.{{cite news |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/colleyville/colleyville-grapevine-southlake-headlines/20100729-D-FW-Airport-to-dedicate-marker-8401.ece |title=D/FW Airport to dedicate marker to 1985 crash of Delta Flight 191 |last=Young |first=Michael |date=July 30, 2010 |work=The Dallas Morning News |access-date=March 15, 2015}}

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{{notes}}

{{NTSB}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Delta Air Lines Flight 191}}

• {{ASN accident|id=19850802-0}}
• [http://www.airliners.net/search?registrationActual=N726DA&display=detail Pre-accident photos from Airliners.net]
• [http://www.riotacts.com/fire/flt191.html "DFW Delta Flight 191"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210041123/http://www.riotacts.com/fire/flt191.html |date=February 10, 2009 }} – Essay from Mica Calfee, a firefighter-paramedic who responded to the crash
• [https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR8605.pdf NTSB executive summary report]
• [http://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-reports/AAR86-05.pdf Alternate link] at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University
• [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spe/2005/delta_191/ Delta 191 In Their Words] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308081835/http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spe/2005/delta_191/ |date=March 8, 2016 }}
• [http://www.exponent.com/files/RepresentativeExperience/5d7370af-0e45-4a53-9374-291e82a5797a/Presentation/Attachment/Delta191.flv Animation of the crash, indicating wind vectors and synchronized to voice recorder data] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615234724/http://www.exponent.com/files/RepresentativeExperience/5d7370af-0e45-4a53-9374-291e82a5797a/Presentation/Attachment/Delta191.flv |date=June 15, 2011 }} (description [http://www.exponent.com/multimedia/ here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307214346/http://www.exponent.com/multimedia/ |date=March 7, 2009 }})
• {{YouTube|title=Animation of the crash indicating wind vectors and synchronized to voice recorder data|id=HY7pH3fzsvY}} - Created by Z-Axis Litigation for the U.S. Department of Justice
• {{YouTube|title=This Is Why You Don't Want to Fly into a Microburst (Using Delta Flight 191 as an example)|id=HDfodeURad0}} - Smithsonian Channel

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Category:Airliner accidents and incidents in Texas

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