Doomed Plane’s Vibrations Had Crew Frantic

Heavy vibrations shook the Galaxy Airlines Lockheed Electra just before it crashed in Nevada, killing 70 of the 71 people aboard, federal investigators said today as they released the transcript of the doomed crew’s last frantic conversation.

The National Transportation Safety Board, releasing its reports on the Jan. 21 crash at Reno, also said most of the plane’s systems and components were so severely damaged by the impact and a fire after the crash that it could obtain little meaningful information.

The federal panel made public a 5 1/2-minute transcript of the cockpit conversation of Flight 203 that showed the crew was aware that the vibrations represented a grave problem.

“What is it?” the captain asked the flight engineer upon hearing a jolting sound.

“I don’t know,” came the reply.

“Tell ‘em (the control tower) we need to make a left downwind to get outta here, get it back on the ground,” the captain said.

The flight engineer then told the captain the plane had sufficient power but a heavy vibration jolted the cockpit again.

“Tell ‘em we have a heavy vibration,” the captain said.

“Jesus,” the flight engineer said. Then, apparently recovering from the shock, he said, “OK, I’ve got the power.”

Seconds later there was another jolt that rattled loose equipment in the cockpit.

The plane received permission from the tower to land, and the captain told the controller he needed emergency equipment.

“We need more power,” the captain advised the cockpit crew.

“A hundred knots,” the first officer said.

“God, God,” said the flight engineer.

“A hundred knots,” the first officer said.

“Max power,” said the captain.

“Max power,” the flight engineer said.

Five seconds later, at 1:04:30, the cockpit recorder taped the sound of the crash impact.

The report did not make any conclusions concerning the cause of the accident. That will come later.

The Galaxy flight was a “gamblers’ special” charter from California to Minneapolis with a stop in Reno.