Multi-Scale Analyses of Meteorological Conditions Affecting Pan American World Airways Flight 759

摘要

On the afternoon of July 9th, 1982, Pan American World Airways Flight 759, a Boeing 727 aircraft, crashed in Kenner, Louisiana, shortly after taking off from New Orleans International Airport (Moisant Field). Many residences were either destroyed or damaged in the crash. The accident killed 145 persons on the aircraft and 8 persons on the ground. At the time of Flight 759's departure there were thunderstorms in the New Orleans area. In addition, while the plane was taxiing to the takeoff runway, personnel in the New Orleans tower issued several wind shear advisories for winds that had activated the airport's low-level windshear alert warning system. The seriousness of this particular event provided the motivation for a detailed examination of the meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. The goal was to reconstruct the evolution of weather events immediately before and during the crash so that the precise role of meteorological features could be assessed by the NTSB Board of Inquiry.