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At 7:36 pm on January 23rd 1982, a World Airways
DC-10 overshot the runway while attempting to land at Logan Airport and
slid into the ocean. Tragically, two people were never found, and were
presumed dead.
The World Airways accident occurred just ten days after the dramatic Air
Florida crash in Washington DC into the Potomac River. The heroic
rescue of five survivors from the icy river was broadcast live on
television, and was a fresh memory for Boston residents on the night of this accident. Many low fare airlines were established in the
early 1980s after industry deregulation—with
People Express—being the most famous, and several accidents during this time increased the worries about airline
safety.
On the night of the accident at Logan, it was 38 degrees
Fahrenheit with light rain and fog. The runway was covered with
hard packed snow and ice, and overlaid with rain water. Flight 30H
landed beyond the displacement point on the runway, and with poor runway
conditions, was unable to stop. To avoid the light pier at the end of
the runway, the aircraft veered left, and then slid into Boston Harbor. The nose of the aircraft separated from the fuselage after the plane fell
off the seawall.
In 1982, this author resided about two miles from Logan
Airport, and distinctly remembers the night of the accident. It was
cold and foggy, and also very humid. From memory, such conditions
occurred only a few times per year—cold
and muggy—which used to cause the scent of jet exhaust and jet tire rubber to fill the air for
several hours. At JFK or LaGuardia Airports to the south, this type
of weather likely occurs more often than at Boston. Water from fog and
light rain had glazed over the runways, but had not been cleared before
Flight 30H's arrival.
Some of the good results of the Flight 30H crash were recommendations on runway distance requirements when
landing on snow or ice, refinement of communications
procedures between air traffic control, airport management, and pilots
concerning runway conditions, and certification of runway conditions by
airport management during inclement weather.
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