Running head: AIRCRAFT CRASH AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 1
Aircraft Crash and Emergency Management
Brandon Gokey
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
SFTY 350
AIRCRAFT CRASH AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 2
Abstract
Boeing 767 was an aircraft which belongs to the aviation company by the name Atlas Air.
(Morrell, 2016). On February 23 the year 2019, a tragedy occurred as this plane crashed. It had
three people onboard where the media gave reports of all the three passengers perishing. The
media reports further stated that by the time they were making the report, only one body had
been recovered from the crash. This plane was a cargo flight which belonged to Amazon but was
operated on their behalf by Atlas Air. The catastrophic airplane was heading for Houston from
Miami. When it drew near the city of Anahuac in Texas, a problem occurred, and the aircraft
crashed in the Trinity Bay. The tragedy was confirmed by both the airline that was operating the
plane as well as the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States of America.
N1217A was the registration number of this ill-fated Boeing 767. The plane commenced its
operation in the last 27 years. It remained operational all this time until the day when the
accident occurred. Atlas Airlines was the airline responsible for the operation of this plane. The
paper will discuss the accident, the findings and emergency management of plane crashes.
AIRCRAFT CRASH AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 3
Aircraft Crash and Emergency Management
The Canadian based airline firm is currently bankrupt. (Morrell, 2016). Before its
bankruptcy, this airline had initially ordered this plane from the Boeing Company, but it was
unable to take up the order after the aircraft was ready for sale to them. As a result, another firm
that dealt with the leasing of planes took up the order and leased the airplane off to a Chinese
based airline company. The company that took up the Boeing 767 was known as China Southern
Airlines.
It is critical to know that this plane had changed hands severally from one airline to another
throughout its history. However, the LAN airlines served with it for a substantial period. The
LAN Airline is currently known as LATAM airlines. After three years, the Atlas Airline
resurfaced, and the aircraft was subject to a re-registration where this time the airline came into a
conclusion of converting it into a cargo plane. In the year 2017, Amazon Prime Air was awarded
the chance to brand the aircraft. Nevertheless, the aircraft was operated by the Atlas Airline until
the day it got the accident. (Morrell, 2016). The plane crashed 30 miles away from the airport.
Plane crashes are caused by several factors and therefore it is important to be prepared for
emergency management.
Cause of the Accident Still Unknown
The National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) is an American agency that has the mandate
of determining a probable cause of transportation accidents as well as creating a promoting
safety during transport. (Herve, Christophe, & Secourgeon, 2019). The investigators from NTSB
made constant attempts to look for the planes black boxes which would give some clue about
AIRCRAFT CRASH AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 4
how and what caused the crash. (Ronan, 2019). While these investigators were busy looking for
information to aid in the investigations people were discussing and imagining a variety of
reasons responsible for the crash. One of the primary causes that the people were attributing to
the purpose of this accident was the lousy weather.
The data that the investigators of the crash obtained from the flight radar 24 paint a picture
of a very vigorous descent of the plane at around noon time. The aircraft was flying at 8,675 feet
in the air. (Ronan, 2019). The crew at around 12.37 PM had attempted an emergency land
procedure, and the plane descended to a lower altitude of about 5850 feet. At around 12.39PM, a
sudden descent was realized with the plane lowering more than 4000 feet of elevation. (Ronan,
2019). The information indicates that the final ping-back from the flight at around 1325 feet,
