Voice Recordings Show Another Delta Crew Issued Storm Warning : Airport Had Tornado Report Before Crash in Dallas

Shortly before Delta Airlines Flight 191 crashed Aug. 2 in Dallas, the crew of another Delta jetliner reported what appeared to be a tornado near the airport’s runway, according to transcripts of cockpit voice recordings released Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

But the crew of the ill-fated Delta L-1011 jumbo jetliner never learned of the report and instead was told by air traffic controllers that there was only “a little rain shower” in the vicinity, the documents showed.

How much the plane’s crew knew of the worsening weather--and what detailed, up-to-the-minute information was being provided by controllers and official weather watchers--remain key issues as federal investigators continue to probe the crash of Flight 191, which killed 136 people.

Knew of Bad Weather

Nonetheless, the transcripts reveal that the crew of Flight 191 was not totally unaware of bad weather along its flight path into Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Minutes before the crash, one crew member remarked that “we’re going to get our plane washed” and that lightning was visible.

The sound of rain could be heard about 30 seconds before the crash, and veteran pilot Edward M. Connors admonished his co-pilot, Rudolph P. Price Jr.: “Watch your speed . . . . You’re going to lose it all of a sudden--there it is.

“Push it up, push it way up, way up,” Connors told Price as the engines increased their power. “Way up,” responded Price.

But seconds later, the aircraft’s ground proximity alarm sounded a warning that the plane was dangerously close to the ground. The next sound, described as a “noise similar to landing,” is followed by the final words of a crew member “Oh . . .” an expletive that the NTSB described as unprintable.

Flight 191 touched down about 2,000 feet from the runway, bounced and struck a car on a highway, killing the driver. The plane then crashed into a water tank before bursting into flames.

Funnel-Shaped Mass Seen

Other pilots interviewed by investigators said that minutes before the crash, they saw a curtain of rain and a funnel- or hourglass-shaped mass. Transcripts of cockpit tapes showed that the crew of another Delta flight, a Boeing 737, saw an unusual weather phenomenon but did not tell the airport’s control tower.

“Is that a water spout out there on the end (of the runway)?” said a voice identified as that of the Boeing 737 pilot.

“I don’t know--sure looks like it, doesn’t it? . . . . Looks like a tornado or something,” the co-pilot responds. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Moments later, the captain exclaims: “An airplane just crashed. Oh, oh . . . . That was a big ball of fire . . . . I think it was Delta.”

The weather conditions revealed in the NTSB reports support the investigators’ theory that a sudden wind shear slammed the Delta jumbo jetliner to the ground. Wind shear is the sudden change in wind direction and speed that can affect the pilot’s ability to control the aircraft.

According to meteorological reports, rain accompanied by a wind gust of 87 knots shook the Dallas airport tower just after the accident. The powerful gusts moved the nose of another Delta parked at its gate 1 1/2 feet from the passenger jetway.

Threatening Clouds Reported

More than 10 minutes before the crash, weather observations sent via electronic typewriter to the Dallas tower by the airport’s weather observer reported cumulus clouds--usually indicative of thunderstorms. However, the controller told the Delta crew only that there was “a little rain shower” north of the airport.

Earlier crew members of Flight 191 had expressed concern when they criticized an air traffic controller for not responding quickly enough to a request for new instructions designed to skirt some bad weather.

“He’s sleeping--get him out of bed,” the captain said of the controller. Then, after listening to the controller cancel an order to another aircraft, he said: “It’s getting kind of hot in the oven with this controller. See, that’s what the lack of experience does.”

The ill-fated flight originated in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and was bound for Los Angeles with an intermediate stop in Dallas.