| USA Jet Airlines Flight 199 | |
| Occurrence Type: | Accident |
| Image Upright: | 1.15 |
| Type: | Crashed on approach due to pilot error |
| Site: | 0.8 km from Saltillo Airport, Coahuila, Mexico |
| Coordinates: | 25.5592°N -100.9292°W |
| Aircraft Type: | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15F |
| Operator: | USA Jet Airlines |
| Callsign: | JET USA 199 |
| Tail Number: | N199US |
| Origin: | Shreveport Regional Airport, Louisiana |
| Destination: | Saltillo Airport, Coahuila |
| Passengers: | 0 |
| Occupants: | 2 |
| Crew: | 2 |
| Injuries: | 1 |
| Fatalities: | 1 |
| Survivors: | 1 |
USA Jet Airlines Flight 199 was a cargo flight from Shrevenport to Saltillo Airport. On July 6 2008 the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the flight crashed on approach to its destination killing the captain, the first officer was seriously injured and taken to the hospital.[1] [2]
The aircraft involved was a McDonnell Douglas DC-9F powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D, registered as N199US manufactured in 1967, and initially operated by Continental Airlines. The aircraft was converted to a cargo plane in 1984, and acquired by USA Jet Airlines in 1996.
On July 5 the plane has flown from Detroit to Hamilton, Canada, to pick up automotive parts to deliver in Mexico. Then the plane took off again headed to Shreveport, where it arrived at 11:19 PM lo al time, and after that it took off again bound for Mexico at 11:48 PM. During approach the crew misidentified runway 35 of the destination airport, and attempted a go around, but it failed and the plane crashed after hitting wires only 800 m from the Saltillo's runway. The aircraft broke up on impact and burnt on the ground. The plane came to a rest near Libramiento José López Portillo, about 200 m away from some Mercury Cargo and DHL hangars.[3] [4]
The mexican Federal Civil Aviation Agency investigated the crash, alongside representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board, which nominated Robert Benzon as its accredited representative.[5] The final report stated that the probable causes of the accident were the continuation of an unstable final approach without having the runway in sight and the consequent loss of control during the go around. Contributing factors were pilot fatigue and pilot error.[6]