Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808

1985 aviation accident

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Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808
Accident
A Beech 99 similar to the accident aircraft
Date	August 25, 1985
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	Auburn, Maine, United States 44°01′57″N 070°17′32″W / 44.03250°N 70.29222°W / 44.03250; -70.29222
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Beech 99
Operator	Bar Harbor Airlines
Registration	N300WP
Flight origin	Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts
1st stopover	Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport, Auburn, Maine
2nd stopover	Waterville Robert LaFleur Airport, Waterville, Maine
3rd stopover	Augusta State Airport, Augusta, Maine
Destination	Bangor International Airport, Bangor, Maine
Passengers	6
Crew	2
Fatalities	8
Survivors	0

Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 was a scheduled flight from Logan International Airport to Bangor International Airport in the United States on August 25, 1985. On final approach to Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport, the Bar Harbor Airlines Beechcraft Model 99 crashed short of the runway, killing all six passengers and two crew on board. Among the passengers was Samantha Smith, a 13-year-old American schoolgirl who had become famous as a goodwill ambassador to the Soviet Union and had been cast on the television show Lime Street.

Flight history

Flight 1808 was scheduled to stop in Augusta and Waterville, Maine, on its route from Logan International Airport in Boston to Bangor International Airport in Bangor, Maine. The flight crew consisted of captain Roy W. Fraunhofer and first officer David C. Owen, who had flown the aircraft from Bangor to Boston and back earlier that afternoon in increasingly worsening weather. On the second trip, they were advised while on the ground in Augusta that because of air-traffic control delays in Boston, their return flight 1788 via Auburn/Lewiston, Maine, would be canceled. They would instead operate the later Flight 1808 with Auburn added as a flag stop to accommodate passengers from Flight 1788.

Flight 1808 boarded in Boston with six passengers: two for Auburn, three for Augusta and one for Waterville. A fourth passenger had checked in for Augusta but did not respond to boarding calls and missed the flight. At 21:17 EDT, the captain radioed for clearance to Auburn. The controller, unaware of the change in routing, advised that Flight 1808's filed destination was Augusta. The captain accepted the routing but advised that he would amend the flight plan to Auburn after passing Pease VOR near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Flight 1808 departed the ramp at 21:26 and was cleared for takeoff from Runway 4L at 21:30.

At about 22:00, Flight 1808 radioed the station agent at Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport for the latest weather. The agent reported a 300 foot (90 m) obscured, indefinite ceiling with visibility of 1 mile (1,600 m) in light drizzle and winds of 020° (north-northeast) at 4 knots (7 km/h). The altimeter setting was supposed to be 30.24 inches of mercury (1,024 hPa). Shortly after this call, a controller in Portland contacted Flight 1808 to advise that they were drifting east of the ILS approach course to Runway 4 at Auburn. He advised them to turn to heading 340 to intercept. The captain responded "OK.” Almost a minute later, the controller advised Flight 1808 that they were passing the Lewie NDB beacon at the outer marker for the approach and asked if they were receiving the signal. The first officer responded "affirmative." The controller then cleared Flight 1808 to switch to the Auburn airport's frequency. This transmission was acknowledged by Flight 1808’s first officer and was the last transmission received from the crew. Portland controllers were notified less than 10 minutes later that the plane had crashed at 22:05.

Passengers

Two of the three passengers headed for Augusta were Samantha Smith and her father, who were returning from London, England. Three years earlier, she had written to Soviet General Secretary Yuri Andropov regarding her desire for peace between the United States and the Soviet Union. Andropov replied with an invitation for the Smiths to tour the Soviet Union. In 1985, ABC hired her as an actress on its new television show Lime Street, which was filmed on location in London. She and her father were headed home during a break from shooting.

Investigation

Accident investigators were hindered by the absence of information from either a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder, as the size of the Beechcraft 99 was below the FAA limit for mandatory recorders. There was also no record of which pilot was flying the aircraft. Both pilots had used the radio during the flight although the non-flying pilot typically handles communications. It took more than three months to transcribe the communications between the plane and ground control and provide the transcript to investigators.

Examination of radar data from Portland showed that after Flight 1808 turned to heading 340 to intercept the approach, it flew through the approach course and had to make a 60° turn less than one mile (1.6 km) from the outer marker to return to its course. Altitude data from the aircraft’s transponder showed that Flight 1808 did not begin its descent to intercept the precision approach until after passing Lewiston, when the plane was already above the glide slope for the approach. This may have caused the flight crew to rush both the descent and the approach and descend too steeply. The actual altimeter settings on both the captain's and the first officer's altimeters could not be determined because of fire and impact damage. The aircraft flew into trees less than 1 mile (1.6 km) from the end of Runway 4 and struck the ground less than 500 feet (150 m) to the right of the extended runway center line. There were no survivors.

In its report, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) noted that the controller in Portland used "poor judgment" while assisting the flight. However, it concluded that the captain accepted the large course correction and that the crew continued flying an unstabilized approach instead of executing a missed approach. The crew also attempted to stabilize the approach while allowing the plane to fly below the glide slope of the approach. The altimeter settings may have been incorrect, which could explain why the crew descended below the published decision height for the approach. At night and in low visibility, the crew may have been unaware of their true position.

The NTSB recommended a review of controller procedures for outlying airports without ground radar to align with best practices. For example, the 60° turn less than 1 mile (1.6 km) from the outer marker for the approach at Auburn was directed by the Portland controller even though that maneuver would have violated approach guidelines for radar-assisted arrivals at Portland International Jetport. The NTSB further recommended that aircraft for hire that were capable of carrying six or more passengers be equipped with flight recorders.

Aftermath

Jane Smith, Samantha's mother, filed a $50 million wrongful death suit against Bar Harbor Airlines in 1986. The case was settled out of court three years later for an undisclosed sum.

References

"FAA Registry (N300WP)". Federal Aviation Administration.
UPI (August 26, 1985). "8 Killed in Maine Plane Crash". The New York Times. p. 11. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
^ "Andropov's Pal Samantha Smith Dies in Plane Crash". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. August 26, 1985. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
Snauffer, Douglas (2008). The show must go on: how the deaths of lead actors have affected television series. McFarland. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-7864-3295-0. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
"Child peace envoy dies". news in brief. The Daily Tar Heel. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. August 28, 1985. p. 2. Retrieved June 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
Folkart, Burt A. (August 27, 1985). "Samantha Smith, 13, Author of Letter to Soviet Leader, Killed in Airplane Crash". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
Wald, Matthew L. (August 27, 1985). "Air Crash Kills Girl Who Sent Andropov Letter About Peace". The New York Times. Vol. 134, no. 46514.
"Plane crash probe continues". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Santa Cruz, California. Associated Press. November 22, 1985. p. A-4, Col. 3. Retrieved June 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
"Accord in Death of Girl Who Made Peace Trip". The New York Times. Vol. 138, no. 47754. Associated Press. January 18, 1989. p. A13.

Aircraft Accident Report AAR-86-6 (PDF) National Transportation Safety Board, Copy at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
"Board blames pilot errors in commuter airline crashes". Houston Chronicle. Washington Post. October 2, 1986. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011.

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1985 (1985)
Jan 1 Eastern Air Lines Flight 980Jan 18 CAAC Flight 5109Jan 21 Galaxy Airlines Flight 203Feb 1 Aeroflot Flight 7841Feb 19 China Airlines Flight 006Feb 19 Iberia Flight 610Feb 24 Polar 3May 3 Zolochiv mid-air collisionJun 14 Trans World Airlines Flight 847Jun 21 Braathens SAFE Flight 139Jun 23 Air India Flight 182Jul 10 Aeroflot Flight 5143Aug 2 Delta Air Lines Flight 191Aug 12 Japan Air Lines Flight 123Aug 22 Manchester Airport disasterAug 25 Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808Sep 4 Bakhtar Antonov An-26 shootdownSep 6 Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105Sep 23 Henson Airlines Flight 1517Nov 10 Teterboro mid-air collisionNov 23 EgyptAir Flight 648Nov 25 Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crashDec 12 Arrow Air Flight 1285RDec 19 Aeroflot Flight 101/435Dec 31 Ricky Nelson plane crash
1984 ◄ ► 1986

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1985 (1985)

Jan 1 Eastern Air Lines Flight 980Jan 18 CAAC Flight 5109Jan 21 Galaxy Airlines Flight 203Feb 1 Aeroflot Flight 7841Feb 19 China Airlines Flight 006Feb 19 Iberia Flight 610Feb 24 Polar 3May 3 Zolochiv mid-air collisionJun 14 Trans World Airlines Flight 847Jun 21 Braathens SAFE Flight 139Jun 23 Air India Flight 182Jul 10 Aeroflot Flight 5143Aug 2 Delta Air Lines Flight 191Aug 12 Japan Air Lines Flight 123Aug 22 Manchester Airport disasterAug 25 Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808Sep 4 Bakhtar Antonov An-26 shootdownSep 6 Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105Sep 23 Henson Airlines Flight 1517Nov 10 Teterboro mid-air collisionNov 23 EgyptAir Flight 648Nov 25 Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crashDec 12 Arrow Air Flight 1285RDec 19 Aeroflot Flight 101/435Dec 31 Ricky Nelson plane crash

1984 ◄ ► 1986

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1980s
1980	Air Wisconsin Flight 965 (June 1980)
1981	Eastern Air Lines Flight 935 (September 1981)
1982	Air Florida Flight 90 (January 13 1982) Thunderbirds Indian Springs Diamond Crash (January 18 1982) World Airways Flight 30 (January 23 1982) Pilgrim Airlines Flight 458 (February 1982) Pan Am Flight 759 (July 9 1982) Twilight Zone accident (July 23 1982) Pan Am Flight 830 (August 1982)
1983	United Airlines Flight 2885 (January 1983) Eastern Air Lines Flight 855 (May 1983) Air Canada Flight 797 (June 2 1983) Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8 (June 8 1983) Air Illinois Flight 710 (October 1983) Ozark Air Lines Flight 650 (December 20 1983) Anchorage runway collision (December 23 1983)
1984	Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 901 (February 1984) Vieques Air Link Flight 901A (August 2 1984)* San Luis Obispo mid-air collision (August 24 1984) Provincetown-Boston Airlines Flight 1039 (December 1984)
1985	Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 (January 1985) China Airlines Flight 006 (February 1985) Delta Air Lines Flight 191 (August 2 1985) Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 (August 25 1985) Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 (September 6 1985) Henson Airlines Flight 1517 (September 23 1985) Teterboro mid-air collision (November 1985) Death of Ricky Nelson (December 1985)
1986	Grand Canyon mid-air collision (June 1986) Aeroméxico Flight 498 (August 1986) Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628 incident (November 1986)
1987	SkyWest Airlines Flight 1834 (January 1987) Northwest Airlink Flight 2268 (March 1987) American Eagle Flight 5452 (May 1987)* Northwest Airlines Flight 255 (August 1987) Indianapolis Ramada Inn A-7D Corsair II crash (October 1987) Continental Airlines Flight 1713 (November 1987) Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 (December 1987)
1988	Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286 (January 1988) American Airlines Flight 132 (February 3 1988) AVAir Flight 3378 (February 19 1988) Aloha Airlines Flight 243 (April 1988) TACA Flight 110 (May 1988) Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 (August 1988)
1989	United Airlines Flight 811 (February 1989) Evergreen International Airlines Flight 17 (March 1989) United Airlines Flight 232 (July 1989) USAir Flight 5050 (September 1989) KLM Flight 867 (December 15 1989) United Express Flight 2415 (December 26 1989)
This list is incomplete. An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that took place in a U.S. territory. 1970–1979 ◄ 1980–1989 ► 1990–1999

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