USAir Flight 405

About

USAir Flight 405 was a regularly scheduled American domestic passenger flight between LaGuardia Airport in New York City and Cleveland, Ohio. On March 22, 1992, the Fokker F28 Fellowship operating the flight crashed in poor weather in a partially inverted position in Flushing Bay, shortly after liftoff from LaGuardia. The undercarriage lifted off from the runway, but the airplane failed to gain lift, flying only several meters above the ground. The aircraft then veered off the runway and hit several obstructions before coming to rest in Flushing Bay, just beyond the end of the runway. Of the 51 people on board, 27 were killed, including the captain and a member of the cabin crew.

A similar accident had happened three years before, when Air Ontario Flight 1363 crashed shortly after takeoff at Dryden Regional Airport after ice had accumulated on the wings and airframe.