Crashes and accidents - L-1011
This lists the serious accidents and crashes in the history of the L-1011 TriStar
Unlike its rival, the L-1011 got a good start when it comes to reliability. Despite the initial problems with the engines, after Rolls-Royce bankruptcy, the TriStar has been relatively lucky, at least when comparing with the DC-10. Here are, however, all the serious accidents with the L-1011

Eastern Airlines, 29/12 1972

Late evening 29th of December 1972, Eastern Airlines flight 401 approached Miami with 176 passengers on board. When the gear was extended the crew found that the nose wheel didn't locked in its position. The aircraft aborted the landing, climbed and the flight crew of three tried to solve the problem. Then it's a bit strange. When this problem occurred, it seems as the crew became to busy trying to find out weather the gear was down and locked or not, that they failed to notice that they were loosing altitude. Eventually the aircraft went down some 20 miles from Miami Airport. A total of 103 passengers and crew lost their lives in this accident, including two that died later on hospital due to their injuries.
The aircraft involved in this accident was: 193A-1011 registered N310EA

Saudi Arabian Airlines 19/8 1980

The most serious accident up do this date, where the L-1011 has been involved, occurred in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Six minutes after take-off from Riyadh, the crew got a warning of fire in the aft cargo compartment. A few minutes after that passengers reported smoke in the rear cabin and panic broke out. The aircraft turned and returned to Riyadh were it landed safely. The crew continued to taxi clear from the runway and told the tower that they would evacuate. But when the aircraft came to a stop and no evacuation were done, the rescue personnel decided to open one of the doors. When they succeeded, they found the whole cabin in flames. All 301 passengers and crew were killed. The cause of the fire is unclear, but more seriously is the fact that the crew simply doesn't seems to have realised how serious the situation was. After the landing they should have stopped the aircraft and evacuate immediately.
The aircraft involved in this accident was: 193S-1169 registered HZ-AHK

Delta Air Lines 2/8 1985

The TriStar was on approach to Dallas/Ft Worth Airport in very bad weather conditions when it suddenly suffered from windshear. The aircraft touched down short of the runway, on the highway, where it stuck a car and killing the driver. Then the aircraft became airborne and touched down on the runway. It did however started to drift and ended up crashing into a water tank. 135 passengers were killed and 30 survived.
The aircraft involved in this accident was: 193C-1163 registered N726DA

Trans World Airlines 30/7 1992

Immediately after take-off from JFK, when the aircraft reached some 20 feet of altitude, the stick-shaker activated. The flight crew closed the throttles, landed the aircraft, and applied full reverse-thrust and maximum breaks. The runway was however to short and the crew turned the aircraft into the grass where the gear broke and the aircraft caught fire. All passengers were able to evacuate and only one received serious injuries. No one was killed. Later it became evident that this particular aircraft experienced no less than nine similar false stall warnings. The maintenance department ignored this fact and the aircraft were in service. The crew failed to notice that is was a false stall warning and aborted the take-off after lift-off.
The aircraft involved in this accident was: 193B-1014 registered N11002

Delta Air Lines 24/8 1995

Inflight, over the Pacific, the aircraft suddenly experienced explosive decompressions. It however remained airborne and returned to Los Angeles were it landed safely. When it landed it became evident that the aircraft had a 3.6 meter wide hole in the fuselage.
The aircraft involved in this accident was: 193A-1003 registered N781DL

L-1011 write-offs
Date: Registration: Serial: Airline:
721229 N310EA 193A-1011 Eastern Airlines
800819 HZ-AHK 193S-1169 Saudi Arabian Airlines
850802 N726DA 193C-1163 Delta Air Lines
910627 D-AERI 193L-1114 LTU
920730 N11002 193B-1014 Trans World Airlines
950824 N781DL 193A-1003 Delta Air Lines

Some of the information on this page and in this table has been collected from a various of TV-programs and magazines.

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