ATC says wrong position

J Haggerty wrote:

I had been a controller 3 years when that mishap occurred, and I recall
that I wondered why the pilot would have descended so low when he hadn't
yet crossed Round Hill, where the 1800 segment began. 2 big clues that
the 1800 wasn't a good altitude are the MSA which is higher and the spot
elevation depicted right about where they were flying showing terrain at
1764 MSL. Nothing on the chart indicates that 1800 is a safe altitude at
that point. (They actually were about 1670' when they hit the ground.)
I do remember that controllers weren't required by 7110.65 (or was it
still FAAH 7110.8 back then) to provide an altitude to maintain until
established on a portion of the approach until after, and as a result of
this accident. It's a good rule, it's just too bad that the need for
that rule wasn't recognized back then.
There's a good article by AOPA on line at
http://www.aopa.org/asf/asfarticles/sp9806.html that shows that other
pilots reacted differently to the same clearance.


As far as the NTSB could determine, one or two airlines besides TWA taught you could
descend to the highest altitude shown in the profile when cleared for an approach. TWA
"learned" it from the Air Force. A Lear Jet a month before did the same thing but
didn't have the strong winds so he cleared the 1675' terrain.

Confusion was rampant at the month-long hearing.

Also, the chart did not comply with government charting specs, in that ROUND HILL was
required to be in the profile. Had ROUND HILL been in the profile, some altitude in
excess of 3,000 would have been charted at ROUND HILL, thus the accident would not have
happened.

And, on the CVR tape one of the crew members raises concern about the higher altitude
coming in from Front Royal. But, finally the TWA training overcomes that concern and
they all end up agreeing. As to the MSA, TWA pilots were never taught to pay much heed
to those as they are intended for someone who is lost off course.

And, speculation has it they wanted to get down because the turbulance was pretty bad.
Also, the very strong head winds made their descent gradient rather steep.

The vastly improved rules and GPWS came out of that accident.