Ex-Pilot Likens 1979 Spiral to ’94 Fatal Crash

The pilot of a plane that rolled into an uncontrolled dive in 1979 says his case has similarities to last year’s deadly crash near Pittsburgh and he wants the government to reopen the investigation of the earlier incident.

Retired TWA Capt. H. G. Gibson said he is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals to order the National Transportation Safety Board to reopen its accident investigation. The court rejected a similar petition in 1991.

The board declined to comment on Gibson’s action until officials had a chance to study the papers.

Gibson contended that the board has ignored his requests to reopen the case in order to avoid damaging public confidence in Boeing airplanes.

He said his Boeing 727, flying from New York to Minneapolis, suddenly spun out of control on April 4, 1979, plunging more than six miles before he was able to regain control and land in Detroit.

The safety board concluded that the plane rolled when a wing slat on one side failed to retract, followed by the pilot’s “untimely flight control inputs” in an effort to counter the roll.

Gibson said he believes that the sudden spiral was caused by a rudder malfunction and contended that the same problem may have been at fault in two crashes of Boeing 737 jets--both of which suddenly rolled and dived.

While Boeing 727 and 737 aircraft have different rudder designs, Gibson said, power control units in the two rudders are similar.

He said a rudder malfunction may have been involved in the crashes of 737s in Colorado Springs in 1991 and near Pittsburgh last year.

The NTSB said wind conditions were likely to blame in the Colorado crash. The Pittsburgh crash is still under investigation with a hearing scheduled in Pittsburgh this month.