United Express Flight 5925

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

United Express Flight 5925
	Overhead view of the Quincy airport.
Accident
Date	November 19, 1996
Summary	Runway collision
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
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
Registration	N87GL
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 1127 DELTA
Registration	N1127D
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. Fourteen people (twelve on board the 1900 and two on board the King Air) were killed as a result.^[1]

Accident

United Express Flight 5925 had departed from Chicago at 15:25, with Captain Kate Gathje (30),^[4] First Officer Darin 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. As a result, the United Express crew misunderstood the transmission as an indication that both the King Air and the Cherokee 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]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Runway Collision, United Express Flight 5925 and Beechcraft King Air A90, Quincy Municipal Airport, Quincy, Illinois, November 19, 1996" (PDF). Aircraft Accident Report. National Transportation Safety Board. July 1, 1997. NTSB/AAR-97/04. Retrieved September 16, 2017. - This includes the response to Voorhis. The copy of the report at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University does not have the Voorhis response.
^ "FAA Registry (N87GL)". Federal Aviation Administration.
^ "FAA Registry (N1127D)". Federal Aviation Administration.
^ "Katherine Leah "Kate" Anderson Gathje (1966-1996)". www.findagrave.com. Find a Grave. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
^ "OBIT". Quad-City Times. November 23, 1996. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft 1900C-1 N87GL Quincy Municipal Airport, IL (UIN)". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
^ "Fatal Transmission". Mayday. Season 15. 2016. Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic Channel.

External links

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

[NTSB_report-1] "Runway Collision, United Express Flight 5925 and Beechcraft King Air A90, Quincy Municipal Airport, Quincy, Illinois, November 19, 1996" (PDF). Aircraft Accident Report. National Transportation Safety Board. July 1, 1997. NTSB/AAR-97/04. Retrieved September 16, 2017. - This includes the response to Voorhis. The copy of the report at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University does not have the Voorhis response.

[2] "FAA Registry (N87GL)". Federal Aviation Administration.

[3] "FAA Registry (N1127D)". Federal Aviation Administration.

[4] "Katherine Leah "Kate" Anderson Gathje (1966-1996)". www.findagrave.com. Find a Grave. Retrieved September 21, 2020.

[5] "OBIT". Quad-City Times. November 23, 1996. Retrieved September 21, 2020.

[ASN-6] Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft 1900C-1 N87GL Quincy Municipal Airport, IL (UIN)". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved November 27, 2020.

[Mayday_Fatal_Transmission-7] "Fatal Transmission". Mayday. Season 15. 2016. Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic Channel.

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v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1990s
1990	Northwest Airlines Flight 5 (January 4 1990) Avianca Flight 052 (January 25 1990) Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2254 (April 1990) Death of Stevie Ray Vaughan (August 190) Wayne County Airport runway collision (December 1990)
1991	Los Angeles Airport runway collision (February 1 1991) Ryan International Airlines Flight 590 (February 17 1991) United Airlines Flight 585 (March 1991) Merion air disaster (April 4 1991) Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 (April 5 1991) L'Express Airlines Flight 508 (July 1991) Continental Express Flight 2574 (September 1991) Vallejo helicopter crash (October 1991)
1992	CommutAir Flight 4821 (January 1992) Air Transport International Flight 805 (February 1992) USAir Flight 405 (March 1992) American Eagle Flight 5456 (June 7 1992)* GP Express Airlines Flight 861 (June 8 1992) TWA Flight 843 (July 1992)
1993	Lufthansa Flight 592 (February 1993) Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 46E (March 1993) Alan Kulwicki plane crash (April 1 1993) China Eastern Airlines Flight 583 (April 6 1993) American Airlines Flight 102 (April 14 1993) American International Airways Flight 808 (August 1993)* Northwest Airlink Flight 5719 (December 1993)
1994	United Express Flight 6291 (January 1994) Green Ramp disaster (March 1994) Federal Express Flight 705 (April 1994) Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash (June 1994) USAir Flight 1016 (July 1994) USAir Flight 427 (September 1994) American Eagle Flight 4184 (October 1994) TWA Flight 427 (November 1994) Flagship Airlines Flight 3379 (December 1994)
1995	Air Transport International Flight 782 (February 1995) Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 (August 1995) Alaska Boeing E-3 Sentry accident (September 1995) American Airlines Flight 1572 (November 1995) Tower Air Flight 41 (December 1995)
1996	ValuJet Flight 592 (May 1996) Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 (June 1996) Delta Air Lines Flight 1288 (July 6 1996) TWA Flight 800 (July 17 1996) FedEx Express Flight 1406 (September 1996) Quincy Airport disaster (November 1996) Airborne Express Flight 827 (December 22 1996) New Hampshire Learjet crash (December 24 1996)
1997	Comair Flight 3272 (January 1997) FedEx Express Flight 14 (July 1997) Korean Air Flight 801 (August 6 1997)* Fine Air Flight 101 (August 7 1997) John Denver (October 1997)
1998	United Airlines Flight 863 (June 1998)
1999	American Airlines Flight 1420 (June 1999) Martha's Vineyard plane crash (July 1999) South Dakota Learjet crash (October 1999)
This list is incomplete. An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that took place either in a U.S. territory or at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

Accident

Cause

In popular culture

See also

References

External links