Report Blames Flight Crew in ‘Gamblers Special’ Crash

The crash of a Galaxy Airlines charter flight in Reno last January was probably caused by the flight crew’s failure to control the plane after it experienced heavy vibration, federal investigators said Tuesday.

“The crew should have and could have flown out of this situation,” said Patricia A. Goldman, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

The four-engine Lockheed Electra turboprop was returning to Minneapolis with a group of weekend gamblers when it crashed shortly after takeoff from Reno-Cannon International Airport, careened through a recreational vehicle dealership and caught fire. All six crew members and all but one of the 65 passengers were killed.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Burnett said the flight crew’s “failure to manage the flight in light of the vibration” was the likely cause of the accident.

‘Gamblers Special’

The plane, which was Galaxy’s only passenger-carrying aircraft, was flying one of the popular “gamblers specials.” At the time, the company operated two other Electra planes for cargo flights.

At their meeting Tuesday, the three safety board members reviewed the staff’s findings but postponed a final vote to give staff investigators additional time to expand sections of the report. The final report will be made public after the vote, which is expected in several weeks.

Since the accident, investigators have surmised that the severe vibrations occurred when a small access door on a wing of the plane was left open. The door allows ground handlers who service aircraft to insert a hose to start the first engine with compressed air.

According to investigators, neither the ground service crew member who handled the cart with the hose nor the supervisor who helped disconnect the hose remembers shutting the door. Despite that, the staff’s draft report said the ground crew did not contribute to the accident, but Goldman said she remained unconvinced.

‘Contributing Factor’

“I think failure to close the air-start door would be a contributing factor,” Burnett said.

Burnett also expressed concern that the cockpit crew did not handle the emergency properly. “Had the flight crew dealt with it as it should have been dealt with,” he said, “it would never have resulted in an accident.”

It was about a minute after the 1 a.m. takeoff on Jan. 21 that the crew of the ill-fated Galaxy plane requested permission from the tower to return to the airport because of a vibration, according to the safety board.

Investigators believe that the pilot, concerned about the vibration, reduced power to an unsafe level. When he ordered a return to full power, it was too late to keep the plane airborne.

Pilot’s Behavior Questioned

The board also expressed concern that the pilot acted improperly because he was attempting to fly the plane at the same time he was “trouble-shooting” the vibration problem instead of delegating responsibilities to the co-pilot or flight engineer. The co-pilot was talking on the radio to the airport tower, while the engineer was monitoring the aircraft instruments.

Investigators said many airlines now include training that stresses the importance of using all cockpit resources, including all crew members, in an emergency.

John K. Lauber, the newest board member, also questioned why, in the midst of the emergency, an air traffic controller asked the crew for the number of passengers and the amount of fuel on board. Such a request, he said, came at “an inopportune moment.”