View source for Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17

Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 was a regularly scheduled domestic cargo flight operating on February 16, 2000, from Reno, Nevada, with an intermediate stop at Sacramento Mather Airport in Rancho Cordova, California, before continuing to Dayton, Ohio. The flight was operated by a 1968-built Douglas DC-8-71F aircraft, registration N8079U, which had previously been used by United Airlines and Líneas Aéreas Paraguayas before being converted into a freighter. The crew consisted of Captain Kevin Stables, First Officer George Land, and Flight Engineer Russell Hicks. After completing the taxi checklist and preparing for takeoff from runway 22L at Sacramento Mather Airport, the aircraft encountered control issues shortly after lifting off. The crew attempted to return to the airport but was unable to stabilize the aircraft. The plane crashed onto a nearby industrial site, resulting in the deaths of all three crew members. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that the crash was caused by the detachment of the right elevator control rod due to improper maintenance procedures by Emery Worldwide Airlines. Specifically, the bolts securing the control rod were not properly torqued and inspected during routine maintenance. The NTSB identified multiple safety issues, including inadequate maintenance work cards, insufficient inspections, and design flaws in the DC-8 elevator control tab. As a result of the investigation, 15 safety recommendations were issued to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), emphasizing the need for enhanced inspections of DC-8 aircraft. The FAA discovered over 100 maintenance violations by Emery Worldwide Airlines, leading to ...