On November 12, 1995, at 0055 eastern standard time a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, N566AA, owned by American Airlines and operated as flight 1572, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees in East Granby, Connecticut, while on approach to runway 15 at Bradley International Airport (BDL), Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
The airplane also impacted an instrument landing system antenna as it landed short of the runway on grassy, even terrain. Flight 1572 was being conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 121, as a scheduled passenger flight from Chicago, Illinois, to Bradley International Airport.
Safety issues focused on:
- tower shutdown procedures,
- non-precision approach flight procedures,
- precipitous terrain and obstruction identification during approach design,
- the issuance of altimeter settings by air traffic control,
- low level windshear alert system maintenance and recertification, and
- emergency evacuation issues.
We determined that the probable cause of this accident was the flightcrew’s failure to maintain the required minimum descent altitude until the required visual references identifiable with the runway were in sight. Contributing factors were the failure of the BDL approach controller to furnish the flightcrew with a current altimeter setting, and the flightcrew’s failure to ask for a more current setting.
As a result of this investigation, we made thirteen new recommendations to the FAA.
