Henson Airlines Flight 1517

1985 aviation accident

38°13′35.70″N 78°46′37.50″W / 38.2265833°N 78.7770833°W / 38.2265833; -78.7770833AircraftAircraft typeBeech 99OperatorHenson Airlines
d/b/a Piedmont CommuterCall signHENSON 1517RegistrationN339HAFlight originBaltimore-Washington International AirportDestinationShenandoah Valley Regional AirportOccupants14Passengers12Crew2Fatalities14Survivors0

On September 23, 1985, Henson Airlines Flight 1517 crashed in Grottoes, Virginia, while on approach to the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport. The two pilots and twelve passengers were killed.

Accident details

Henson Airlines Flight 1517 was a regular scheduled flight from Baltimore-Washington International Airport to Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport. The flight was operated on behalf of Piedmont Airlines as Piedmont Commuter.

At 9:59 am, Flight 1517 departed Baltimore bound for Shenandoah Valley. On board were twelve passengers and two crew members. The crew were Captain Martin Burns III (27), and First Officer Zilda Spadaro-Wolan (26).

The flight was routine until approach into Shenandoah Valley. At 10:14 am, Captain Burns told the Air Traffic Controller that he believed that the plane was too far west of his course. The controller tried several times to reach Flight 1517 by radio to no avail.

The search for Flight 1517 started at 10:25 am. At 6:42 pm, Civil Air Patrol located the crash site 6 miles east from the airport. Flight 1517 struck the southwest face of Hall Mountain at an elevation of 2,400 ft.^[1]

Zilda Spadaro-Wolan was the first female commercial airline pilot to perish in an airplane crash in the United States.

Cause

The US National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was a navigational error by the flight crew resulting from their use of the incorrect navigational facility and their failure to adequately monitor the flight instruments. Factors which contributed to the flightcrew's errors were: (1) the nonstandardized navigational radio systems installed in the airline's Beech 99 fleet; (2) intracockpit communication difficulties associated with high ambient noise levels in the airplane; (3) inadequate training of the pilots by the airline; (4) the first officer's limited multiengine and instrument flying experience; (5) the pilots' limited experience in their positions in the Beech 99; and (6) stress-inducing events in the lives of the pilots. Also contributing to the accident was the inadequate surveillance of the airline by the Federal Aviation Administration which failed to detect the deficiencies which led to the accident. ^[2]

Notable passengers

The passengers included playwright and actor Larry Shue and several executives of Beiersdorf, a personal care products company.^[3]

References

^ "AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT HENSON AIRLINES FLIGHT 1517 BEECH B99, N339HA GROTTOES, VIRGINIA SEPTEMBER 23, 1985" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. September 30, 1986. NTSB/AAR-86/07. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
^ "ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft B99 N339HA Staunton-Shenandoah Valley Airport, VA (SHD)". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
^ "Weyers Cave, VA Commuter Plane Crashes In Mountains, Sep 1985 - GenDisasters ... Genealogy in Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods". Retrieved 22 December 2016.

External links

NTSB Final Report (Alternate at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University)

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1985 (1985)

Jan 1

Eastern Air Lines Flight 980

Jan 21

Galaxy Airlines Flight 203

Feb 1

Aeroflot Flight 7841

Feb 19

China Airlines Flight 006

Feb 19

Iberia Flight 610

Feb 24

Polar 3

May 3

1985 Zolochiv mid-air collision

Jun 14

Trans World Airlines Flight 847

Jun 21

Braathens SAFE Flight 139

Jun 23

1985 Narita International Airport bombing

Jun 23

Air India Flight 182

Jul 10

Aeroflot Flight 5143

Aug 2

Delta Air Lines Flight 191

Aug 12

Japan Air Lines Flight 123

Aug 22

Manchester Airport disaster

Aug 25

Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808

Sep 4

Bakhtar Antonov An-26 shootdown

Sep 6

Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105

Sep 23

Henson Airlines Flight 1517

Nov 10

Teterboro mid-air collision

Nov 23

EgyptAir Flight 648

Nov 25

Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash

Dec 12

Arrow Air Flight 1285R

Dec 19

Aeroflot Flight 101/435

Dec 31

Ricky Nelson plane crash

1984 ◄ ► 1986

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1980s
1980	Air Wisconsin Flight 965
1981	Eastern Air Lines Flight 935
1982	Air Florida Flight 90 Thunderbirds Indian Springs Diamond Crash World Airways Flight 30 Pilgrim Airlines Flight 458 Pan Am Flight 759 Twilight Zone accident Pan Am Flight 830
1983	United Airlines Flight 2885 Eastern Air Lines Flight 855 Air Canada Flight 797 Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8 Air Illinois Flight 710 Ozark Air Lines Flight 650 Anchorage runway collision
1984	Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 901 Vieques Air Link Flight 901A San Luis Obispo mid-air collision Provincetown-Boston Airlines Flight 1039
1985	Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 China Airlines Flight 006 Eastern Air Lines Flight 494 Delta Air Lines Flight 191 Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 Henson Airlines Flight 1517 Teterboro mid-air collision Death of Ricky Nelson
1986	Grand Canyon mid-air collision Aeroméxico Flight 498 Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628 incident
1987	SkyWest Airlines Flight 1834 Northwest Airlink Flight 2268 American Eagle Flight 5452 Northwest Airlines Flight 255 Indianapolis Ramada Inn A-7D Corsair II crash Continental Airlines Flight 1713 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771
1988	Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286 American Airlines Flight 132 AVAir Flight 3378 Aloha Airlines Flight 243 TACA Flight 110 Delta Air Lines Flight 1141
1989	United Airlines Flight 811 Evergreen International Airlines Flight 17 United Airlines Flight 232 USAir Flight 5050 KLM Flight 867 United Express Flight 2415
This list is incomplete.