The emergency landing of Air Canada Flight 797 at Greater Cincinnati International Airport, now Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, was a disaster movie played out in real life.
There were heroic actions, tragic endings and lasting changes made.
On the evening of June 2, 1983, an Air Canada DC-9 traveling from Dallas to Toronto on the way to Montreal had an electrical fire in the lavatory that caused severe smoke and cut out essential electrical systems.
With heroic effort, the pilot, Captain Don Cameron, managed to land the plane at CVG airport in Hebron, Kentucky, but minutes after the landing, the plane was engulfed in flames, killing 23 passengers on board.
Fire in the lavatory endangered Air Canada flight
According to the aircraft accident report, at about 7 p.m., a passenger told the flight attendant about a strange odor coming from the lavatory. There was smoke, but no flames. A steward sprayed the compartment with a fire extinguisher.
First Officer Claude Ouimet reported back to the captain, suggesting they land the plane. But the smoke was dissipating, and that delayed the decision to land.
Then several electrical malfunctions occurred. The plane lost AC power, cutting out the transponder and horizontal stabilizer. At 7:09, Cameron called the controller in Indianapolis: “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!”
Flight 797, then at 33,000 feet over Kentucky, was told to land in Cincinnati.
The smoke was getting thick in the cabin. The crew moved all the passengers forward and gave them towels to breathe into. They instructed how to open the emergency doors, which was not standard procedure at the time.
“There was no panic at all,” passenger Raymond Chalifoux told The Enquirer. “The crew did a super job of keeping it under control.”
A rough landing in Cincinnati
The loss of power made landing the plane much harder. It was as though the controls were fighting back. Smoke drifting into the cockpit made it difficult to read the instruments.
Guided by air traffic controller Gregory Karam in Cincinnati, Cameron executed a rough landing at 7:20 p.m. After touchdown, he slammed on the breaks. The antiskid system was inoperative, and all four main tires on the landing gear blew.
The airport fire department immediately sprayed the smoking aircraft with foam.
Inside the cabin, the smoke and toxic fumes from burning plastic were disorienting. The passengers didn’t know which way to go. The crew opened five exits, including two over the wings. Inflatable chutes were deployed, helping passengers to the ground.
Ouimet exited through the cockpit’s sliding window, but when he was out, he spotted Cameron still sitting in the pilot’s seat, stunned. Ouimet directed a firefighter to spray the captain with cold foam. It startled Cameron awake and he managed to also jump out a cockpit window.
Less than 90 seconds after the plane doors opened, the influx of oxygen feeding the fire caused a flashover. Flames engulfed the cabin.
The three cabin crew members and 18 passengers made it out with few injuries. The other 23 passengers, disoriented and overcome with smoke, perished in the fire. Among the victims was Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers.
Safety changes resulted from the tragedy
The flight crew was praised for its efforts to land the plane safely.
But the National Transportation Safety Board report criticized the crew for the delay in the decision to land. If Cameron had decided a few minutes earlier, could they have landed in Louisville? The decent from 33,000 feet would have been trickier, especially with malfunctioning instruments.
“The flight deck crew had just scant minutes to troubleshoot a condition that had never before occurred and for which they had no training,” said Air Line Pilots Association President Henry Duffy.
“Even so, the pilots performed superbly in bringing the crippled airliner to a safe landing despite the loss of most of their flight instruments.”
Speaking on the Canadian disaster show “Mayday,” Cameron said, “I am glad … the people that got off, got off. I’m very sorry that the people that didn’t get off, didn’t get off, because we spent a lot of time and effort getting them there. That really bothered me.”
The tragedy led to major changes in safety regulations.
Smoke detectors were made standard in lavatories. Flight crews were given better firefighting equipment and training. And running lights on the floor were added to guide passengers to all exits.
