Southern Airways Flight 242

On April 4,1977, Southern Airways Flight 242 was a Douglas DC-9 that was en route from Northwest Alabama Regional Airport to William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport flying through a severe thunderstorm when it lost power in both engines. Captain Bill McKenzie and co-pilot Lyman Keele attempted to make it to an airport but eventually, the crew was forced to land the aircraft on stretch of highway near the town of New Hope in Georgia . During the emergency landing, the plane broke apart, caught fire, and exploded. Seventy-two people onboard the aircraft and eight people on the ground died. Twenty passengers survived and one died about a month later due to injuries. Bill McKenzie, and Lyman Keele were killed but the two flight attendants survived .

On the ground at Norwest Alabama Regional, eighty-one passengers board Southern Flight 242. The flight crew switched positions for this particular flight. Lyman Keele was an experienced Navy pilot and will be acting as pilot the in command on this flight. The pilots were given a weather report that told about heavy rain and severe storms. At 3:54pm, the DC-9 took off on its way to Atlanta, but while they’re in the air, the weather gets worse. Tornados begin to touch down all over the general area flight 242 is flying through. The pilots are already flying through heavy rain when they get another warning from Huntsville Air Traffic Control that they are heading into weather that is potentially worse than what they’re in. The pilot’s use their own RADAR equipped on the DC-9 and find that there is a small break between the two storms. The pilots agree to try to fly through the gap. Soon, hail the size of baseballs start to hit the aircraft. The windshield is cracked and the pilots decide to try and find the nearest way out of the storm, but then the aircraft loses all electrical power, but then it comes back. Air Traffic Control instructs flight 242 to climb and maintain 15,000 feet MSL. Soon after, they left engine loses power, then the right engine loses power. Since the engines power electronics and hydraulics, the pilots use the auxiliary power unit to regain electrical power.

The crew asks air traffic control for the nearest airport, and receives Dobbins Air base as an answer. Dobbins is about 20 miles away from the aircraft so the crew decide to land there. Also, Lyman Keele has trained at Dobbins and it is home base as a Navy Reserve pilot. The runway is long enough for DC-9 and has full emergency services. At this time, in New Hope, Georgia, only 10 miles away from flight 242, there is no sign of bad weather. At about 4,900 feet AGL, Southern Airways flight 242 was still about 15 miles out of Dobbins. Captain McKenzie calls air traffic control to ask if there is anything between the aircraft’s position and Dobbins air base. Air traffic control tells them that there is Cartersville airport 10 miles north of them, and the crew decides to redirect there. Bill McKenzie tells first officer Lyman Keele that he should try to put the aircraft down in the nearest clear field. But Keele refuses, and insists on picking out a highway. They find Georgia state highway 92, and decide to use it as their landing spot. The highway ran through the town of New Hope. Keele tells McKenzie, “We’re going to do it right here.”