A Trans World Airways Boeing 727 was descending through clouds to join an instrument approach to Washington Dulles International Airport on Dec. 1, 1974, when the radio altimeter warning horn sounded the first of two warnings, alerting the crew that they were 100 ft above the ground. Six seconds later, the warning horn sounded again, followed immediately by the 727’s crash into the western slope of Mount Weather, 25 nm (46 km) west of Dulles.
The crash killed all 92 passengers and crew, destroyed the airplane, and prompted calls for the development not only of terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS) but also of voluntary, confidential safety reporting systems and changes in air traffic control (ATC) communications.
A private TWA Flight 514 remembrance ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 1, in nearby Bluemont, Virginia, which was home to the emergency operations center for the crash recovery effort. The Bluemont Citizens Association, which organized the ceremo…
