American Eagle Plane Crashes in N.C.; 15 Killed

An American Eagle commuter plane with 20 people aboard crashed and split open Tuesday evening in a rugged, wooded area about four miles from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, killing 15 people.

Thirteen people died at the scene and two shortly after arrival at Duke University Medical Center, authorities said. The five survivors were hospitalized and two of them had extensive injuries, a hospital official said.

Flight 3379 was en route from Greensboro to Raleigh, a flight of about 70 miles, when it crashed about 6:40 p.m. EST. Observers at the crash scene said it was foggy and sleeting. The airport reported a temperature of 37 degrees with steady drizzle.

Airport spokeswoman Teresa Damiano said the Jetstream Super 31 broke into two large pieces, with wreckage scattered over about 500 feet. A fire broke out in the cockpit area after the crash, she said.

It was the second crash of an American Eagle plane in less than two months, but it did not involve one of the ATR planes the airline recently grounded amid concerns over the planes’ safety in icy conditions.

The rugged terrain made rescue efforts difficult, Damiano said, and four-wheel-drive vehicles were required to reach the crash site.

The plane’s flight data recorder and voice recorder were recovered, said American Eagle spokesman Al Becker.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the plane apparently gave no sign of trouble before the crash and its crew had received clearance from the airport tower to land.

“We have complete confidence in this aircraft,” Becker said. “At this point, no one has the slightest notion of what caused this.”

The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched a team to the scene, led by board member John K. Lauber. They were expected to begin their investigation early today.

Transportation Secretary Federico Pena and FAA Administrator David R. Hinson also were to fly to the scene, a spokesman said.

The ill-fated plane first flew Tuesday from Jacksonville to Raleigh-Durham, then to Fayetteville, back to Raleigh-Durham and on to Greensboro, the airline said. It was returning again to Raleigh-Durham when it crashed.

The Jetstream was delivered to Nashville-based Flagship Airlines, which operates American Eagle in the Southeast, in January, 1991. It had completed 8,483 takeoff-and-landing cycles.

The plane had its last scheduled maintenance Saturday in Nashville, said Laura Tolar, another airline spokesperson.

The Jetstream Super 31, a twin turboprop manufactured by British Aerospace, carries a maximum of 19 passengers and a cockpit crew of two. The plane received FAA certification in 1988. American Eagle said Tuesday night that it operates 54 Super 31s. The average age of the planes is three years, a spokesman said.

Of the four carriers that operate under the American Eagle name, only Wings West, based in Los Angeles, and Flagship Airlines fly Jetstream Super 31s. Raleigh-Durham is one of Flagship’s hubs.

Another Jetstream plane, a Jetstream 41, crashed on Jan. 7 near Columbus, Ohio, killing five people.

The NTSB ruled that pilot error, unfamiliarity with a new type of plane and inadequate training were the probable causes of that crash.

American Eagle flights have had at least four other fatal crashes in the past seven years, including a 1988 accident in which a plane went down outside the Raleigh-Durham airport after taking off in dense fog. All 12 people aboard were killed.

Tuesday evening’s crash was also the fourth serious airline accident in the United States in the past six months.

On Oct. 31, an American Eagle commuter plane crashed while waiting to land at O’Hare, killing all 68 on board. On Sept. 8, a USAir jetliner crashed on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport, killing all 132 people on board. And on July 2, another USAir jet crashed near North Carolina’s Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, killing 37 of 57 people on board.

American Eagle grounded all 41 ATR commuter airplanes at O’Hare on Saturday, a day after the government banned the turboprop aircraft from flying in icy weather.

Ice forming on the wings has been suspected in the Oct. 31 crash, which involved an American Eagle ATR-72. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.

As a result of the ATR groundings and subsequent transfer of Saab aircraft to Chicago to replace them, American Eagle has announced the permanent shutdown by January of its Raleigh-Durham hub.

The airline said that anyone needing information about passengers in Tuesday’s crash could contact American Eagle at (800) 433-7300.

Times staff writer Judy Pasternak in Chicago and the Associated Press contributed to this story.