US Air Flight 1016: A Cabin Crew Perspective

On July 2nd 1994, US Air flight 1016 (a McDonnell Douglas DC-9) crashed into a neighborhood just outside of Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. There was a missed approach due to the weather and thunderstorms produced a microburst that pushed the aircraft into the ground. The captain and one flight attendant escaped with minor injuries, the first officer, two flight attendants and 15 passengers had serious injuries and there were 37 fatalities.

On the day

The crew had already flown two sectors and were on the third from Columbia, South Carolina, to Charlotte. Everything seemed perfectly normal. Lead flight attendant Richard DeMary and flight attendant Shelley Markwith were seated on their jump seats next to the cockpit door, and Karen Forcht was sitting at the rear, jump seat facing forwards. Just as the aircraft was coming in to land, the flight crew initiated a go-around due to the weather, but the flight attendants couldn’t feel the aircraft climbing. That’s when they knew something was seriously wrong.

What happened next

The flight attendants at the front heard the aircraft’s ground warning proximity system and the words “terrain, terrain.” Everything happened so fast that the flight attendants were in disbelief. The first impact was on the ground, the scraping metal, the noise of the breaking trees around them, and with violent force. The second impact came when the aircraft hit a tree and peeled away one side of the aircraft. The aircraft was now in three sections, the nose was on the road, the center was wrapped around a tree, and the tail had struck a building.

The flight attendants were aware of the noise and violent impact and felt in disbelief. Photo: NTSB via Wikimedia

Aftermath

Richard was aware he was covered in jet fuel and of the rain, wind, and noise that surrounded him. Richard and Shelley started to shout their commands, “release seatbelt and get out”. As he released his seatbelt, he felt the debris around him. He tried to open the emergency exit next to him, which was jammed, but then realized he was, in fact, out in the open. The cabin was no longer connected. He saw the captain crawl out of the cockpit door, who also helped the first officer out, who had a broken leg and head injuries. Shelley had shattered her knee, had a deep wound in her thigh and burns, and couldn’t get out of her seat. Richard picked her up and pulled her to safety outside the aircraft.

Fire and smoke

There were now small explosions and fire around the aircraft. Richard found the tail and shouted his commands again, although he could see no one. He burned his arms on the aircraft, but finally, a woman and a baby came out of the wreckage. Then another woman who had a lap child who had died in the impact, and she couldn’t find him. Richard took them away from the aircraft and to the help of some people in the neighborhood. He went back to the aircraft again but found no one.

The aircraft was broken up into three parts and the flight attendants went back numerous times looking for survivors. Photo: NTSB via Wikimedia

Fireball

Karen had managed to escape from the rear of the aircraft, but had severe burns. She helped three passengers out of the aircraft. There was a lot of debris and a fireball and she found no useable exit, so had to make her way out of the open fuselage.

On the ground

Richard went to the house that the aircraft had crashed into, looking for survivors. A man was trapped under debris in the carport and was unable to breathe. He tried to calm the man who was a passenger thrown from the aircraft. He then went with the captain to break into the house, luckily the residents were away. They then started to remove telephone poles that were blocking the emergency services’ access. Both Karen and Richard tried to go back to the aircraft but were told to get away from the area.

“I think as crew members, we carry a certain amount of burden to care for our passengers. And I think all crew members from our flight did, we took that upon ourselves to carry the weight until fire and rescue arrived. Based on my training, I did what I had to do. I did the job that I could do to help others survive and I can’t imagine doing anything differently. After the accident, I can’t imagine having any other training that could have prepared me better.”

– Richard DeMary, lead flight attendant

The crew continued to help on the ground with first aid and comfort until finally, Shelley and the flight crew went to the hospital. Karen and Richard stayed together due to the severity of her burns and were taken to a different hospital. All crew survived the accident.