On Sept. 8, 1994, USAir’s Flight 427 was making its approach to Pittsburgh International Airport when something went terribly wrong.
The flight had originated at Chicago’s O’Hare and was on its way to Palm Beach, Florida, with a stopover at USAir’s hub in Pittsburgh. During its approach to Pittsburgh, the Boeing 737 encountered turbulence from the wake of a Delta flight a few miles ahead of it. There were three thumps and some other noises, and the plane banked and rolled to the left. The pilots tried to adjust to the turbulence, but a malfunction caused their efforts to exacerbate the problem, putting the plane into a nose-down dive.
The 737 struck the ground at 300 mph, slamming into a gravel road and ravine in Beaver County and exploding on contact. Members of the Hopewell Soccer Club, practicing on a field nearby, witnessed the crash, telling investigators later that it appeared the plane had just fallen from the sky…