Air Florida Flight 90

Source: National Transportation Safety Board report AAR-82-08, found HERE

Air Florida Flight 90 crashed after takeoff from Washington Airport in January, 1982. There were 78 killed on the flight; five survived. Seven others were killed on the ground, as the plane hit a bridge during rush hour before coming to a stop in the Potomac River. The plane had been deiced prior to takeoff but had to wait some time between deicing and clearance. Time-of-day is included in the script.

Questions:

Time Speaker Recorded Words
15:38:22 Ground Controller (GC) OK and the American that's towing there… let's… six twenty four can you… get… around that… palm on a pushback?
Captain (C) Ground Palm Ninety, we're ready to taxi out of his way.
GC OK Palm Ninety, Roger, just pull up over behind that… TWA and hold right there. You'll be falling in line behind a… Apple*… DC Nine.
15:40:15 C …go over to the hangar and get deiced…
First Officer (FO) Yeah, definitely.
C …deiced…
FO …yeah, that's about it.
15:46:21 C Tell ya what, my windshield will be deiced; don't know about my wings.
FO Well, all we need is the inside of the wings anyway. The wingtips are gonna speed up on eighty anyway; they'll shuck all that other stuff.
15:47:32 C (getting deiced) …gonna getcher wing now.
FO Did they get yours? Did they getcher wingtip over 'er?
C I got a little on mine.
FO A little? This one's got about a quarter to half an inch on it all the way.
15:48:59 FO See this difference in that left engine and right one?
C Yeah.
FO I don't know why that's different… unless it's hot air going into that right one… that must be it… from his exhaust… it was doing that at the chocks** a while ago… ah.
15:51:54 C Don't do that… Apple, I need to get the other wing done.
15:58:26 FO Slush… runway, do you want me to do anything special for this or just go for it?
C Unless you got anything special you'd like to do.
FO Unless just take off the nosewheel early like a soft field takeoff or something; I'll take the nosewheel off and then we'll let it fly off.
15:58:55 GC …taxi into position and hold.
C …position and hold.
C (after getting clearance) Palm 90 cleared for takeoff.
15:59:45 C Your throttles.
15:59:46 C Holler if you need the wipers.
15:59:56 C Real cold, real cold.
15:59:58 FO God, look at that thing! That don't seem right, does it?
16:00:05 FO …that's not right.
C Yes it is, there's eighty.
FO Naw, I don't think that's right. …maybe it is.
C …hundred and twenty.
FO I don't know.
C Vee one.
C Vee two.
16:00:45 C Forward, forward.
16:00:48 C We only want five hundred.
16:00:50 C C'mon, forward, forward, just barely climb.
16:01:00 FO Larry, we're going down Larry!
C I know it.