A failure to communicate

Kris O’Donnell

On February 17, 1981, a Boeing 737 crashed during landing at John

Wayne Airport, an accident ultimately blamed on communication errors.

The Air California aircraft crash landed after touching down with

the landing gear retracted.

Flight 336 took off from San Jose for a flight to Santa Ana.

Forty-eight minutes later, the crew received a clearance for a visual

approach to runway 19R. However, while Flight 336 approached, the air

traffic controller cleared another flight, Air California Flight 931

that was going back to San Jose, for a takeoff on the same runway.

After recognizing the two planes would be too close together, the

controller ordered Flight 336 to abort the landing and go around

again and the other plane to abort the takeoff.

Flight 336 aborted and returned, only to land with the wheels

retracted.

The 737 skidded 2,070 feet before coming to rest. Four people

sustained serious injury and 29 people suffered minor injuries, but

no one was killed.

The official cause of the accident, according to the National

Transportation Safety Board, was the captain’s failure to immediately

initiate a go-around when instructed to do so.

The safety board also believed the controller waited too long to

advise the flight not to land.

“Aborting a landing under 250 feet can be accomplished safely, but

it is always a hazardous procedure this close to the ground since the

aircraft will descend approximately 130 [more] feet even if the

go-around is executed perfectly,” board member Francis H. McAdams

said.

In the period between 1959 to 1994, errors involving flight crews

were the primary cause in the majority of accidents, according to the

Flight Safety Foundation. However, flight-crew error has declined as

the cause of accidents between 1984 to 1994.

“John Wayne Airport is still a viable airport and can be made even

safer,” said Donald R. Segner, a former association administrator of

the Federal Aviation Administration.

Airport officials work to that end, said John Wayne public affairs

manager Ann McCarley.

“We are constantly informing and educating those concerned on

changes to John Wayne Airport,” she said. “These changes include new

and/or additional striping, signage and regulations.”

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