Originally Posted by
4444
i'm sure some of you flyers may remember the airline. i do not. about 15 years ago i was in colorado skiing. some friends were flying in from all over the country. my freind len called late one night to tell me he would not make it. his plane hit another plane on the runway in st. louis. he was not hurt but said it was a pretty hectic scene. i think some people on the other plane were killed. it was a small plane that was on the runway and the wing of his plane smashed into it. i do not remember the name of the airline. anyone remeber that?
The power of Google:
A Trans World Airlines jetliner struck a private plane with its wing during takeoff at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, killing two people aboard the small craft and injuring several passengers on the large jet.
The TWA MD-80, carrying 142 passengers plus its crew, was accelerating when the pilot apparently saw the Cessna 421 in his path and swerved to avoid the smaller plane, an Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman, Sandra Campbell, said from the agency's Kansas City, Mo., regional office.
The jetliner's right wing clipped the Cessna to take off at 10:05 P.M., sheering off the top of the smaller plane, she said.
Injuries to passengers aboard the TWA plane, Flight 427 to Denver, were minor, Ms. Campbell said. She did not know the number of passengers hurt.
The MD-80 had been cleared for takeoff, while the Cessna was being held for takeoff for Iron Mountain, Mich., on a parallel runway, Ms. Cambpell said. The smaller plane was sitting perpendicular to its runway and "should not have been there," she said.
After the collision, the TWA pilot stopped the plane near the end of the runway. A large amount of fuel was spilled, and the runways were closed for the night.