United Express Flight 5925

United Express Flight 5925

Overhead view of the Quincy airport.
Accident
Date	November 19, 1996
Summary	Runway incursion due to Pilot Error on the King Air
Site	Quincy Municipal Airport, Gilmer Township, Adams County, Illinois, near Quincy, Illinois, United States 39°56′27.4″N 91°11′39.3″W / 39.940944°N 91.194250°W / 39.940944; -91.194250Coordinates: 39°56′27.4″N 91°11′39.3″W / 39.940944°N 91.194250°W / 39.940944; -91.194250
Total fatalities	14
Total survivors	0
First aircraft
A United Express Beechcraft 1900C similar to the one involved.
Type	Beechcraft 1900C
Operator	Great Lakes Airlines for United Express
Call sign	LAKES AIR 251[1]
Registration	N87GL[2]
Flight origin	Chicago O'Hare International Airport
Stopover	Burlington Airport
Destination	Quincy Municipal Airport
Occupants	12
Passengers	10
Crew	2
Fatalities	12
Survivors	0
Second aircraft
A Beechcraft King Air A90 similar to the one involved.
Type	Beechcraft 65-A90 King Air
Operator	Private
Call sign	KING AIR 1127D[1]
Registration	N1127D[3]
Occupants	2
Passengers	0
Crew	2
Fatalities	2
Survivors	0

United Express Flight 5925, operated by Great Lakes Airlines with a Beechcraft 1900 twin turboprop, was a regularly scheduled flight from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Quincy, Illinois, with an intermediate stop in Burlington, Iowa.

On November 19, 1996, the aircraft collided on landing at Quincy with another Beechcraft, a private King Air, that was taking off from an intersecting runway. The crash was known as the Quincy runway disaster. Fourteen people (twelve on board the 1900 and two on board the King Air) were killed as a result.^[1]

Synopsis[]

Wreckage of the Beechcraft 1900C

United Express Flight 5925 had departed from Chicago at 15:25, with Captain Kate Gathje (30),^[4] First Officer Darren McCombs (24),^[5] and ten passengers. After a stop at Burlington, Iowa, the flight proceeded to Quincy. Two aircraft at Quincy were ready for departure when Flight 5925 was on approach. Both aircraft, a Beechcraft King Air and a Piper Cherokee, were proceeding to Runway 4. As Quincy is a non-towered airport, all three aircraft were communicating on the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency. On approach, Captain Gathje inquired as to whether the King Air would hold short of the runway, or depart before their arrival. After receiving no response, Gathje called again, and received a reply from the Cherokee that they were holding short of Runway 4. However, because of a simultaneous sound emitted by the ground proximity warning system in the 1900's cockpit, only part of the transmission was received by the 1900. Contributing to the cause of the accident was the Cherokee pilot's interrupted radio transmission, which led to the United Express crew's misunderstanding of the transmission as an indication from the King Air that it would not take off until after Flight 5925 had cleared the runway.^[6]

Assuming that both planes were holding short, Flight 5925 landed on Runway 13. However, the King Air had taxied into position on Runway 4, and had begun its takeoff roll when Flight 5925 landed. Both aircraft collided at the intersection of Runways 4 and 13. The aircraft skidded for 110 feet (34 m), coming to rest alongside Runway 13, and caught fire. All 12 aboard the United Express flight survived the initial impact, but were trapped inside by a jammed door. Several pilots in the vicinity of the crash came to the scene, but were unable to open the doors of the aircraft before both planes were destroyed by fire. All 12 aboard Flight 5925 and both pilots of the King Air, Neal Reinwald (63) and Laura Winkleman Brooks (34), died from smoke inhalation.^[1]: 19

Cause[]

Diagram of aircraft positions involved in the accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause of the accident was the King Air pilots' failure to effectively monitor both the common frequency and to scan for traffic. A contributing factor was the Cherokee's transmission at the same time as the United Express transmission. Lack of adequate rescue and firefighting equipment was cited as a factor in the high fatality rate.^[1]

In popular culture[]

The crash was featured in the 15th season of the television documentary series Mayday in an episode titled "Fatal Transmission", which featured interviews with witnesses and accident investigators and a dramatic reenactment of the crash.^[7]

See also[]

• Los Angeles runway disaster
• Tenerife airport disaster
• Linate Airport disaster
• Madrid runway disaster
• 1990 Wayne County Airport runway collision
• TWA Flight 427
• Air Canada Flight 759

References[]

External links[]

External video
"Disaster Strikes as Two Planes Collide on the Same Runway". Smithsonian Channel. March 10, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021.

• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
• NTSB Response to Petition for Reconsideration from Mr. Ed Voorhis