Wind Shear Is Another Matter Altogether

On August 2, 1985, Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011, crashed while approaching the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas. While passing through the rain shaft beneath a thunderstorm, Flight 191 entered a microburst, which the crew was unable to traverse successfully. Of the 163 aboard, 134 passengers and crew died; 26 passengers and three cabin attendants survived.

Key Takeaways:

• Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashed in 1985, killing 134 people, after encountering a microburst within a thunderstorm during its approach to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
• The NTSB's probable cause included the flight crew's decision to approach a storm with lightning, and the lack of specific guidelines, training, and real-time information for avoiding low-altitude wind shear.
• The article emphasizes that wind shear, microbursts, and gust fronts are dangerous, rapidly descending and outward-spreading air from violent storms that pose a significant and unpredictable threat to all aircraft during takeoff and landing.

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