I find it shocking that she was put at a console after that and would like to see that process investigated. records, Lawsuits, Liens, Bankruptcies & sex offender status for Robin Wascher. Approach control cleared them for an instrument approach to runway 24 Right, but at 25 miles out the crew reported that the airport was already in sight, and the controller let them perform a simpler visual approach to runway 24 Left instead. "This incident, this accident, could have happened to anybody, any of us," said Wascher's colleague. on the same runway. Check Full Reputation Profile Robin also answers to Robin Wascheer, Robin L Wascher, Robbin L Wascher, Robin Washer and Robin Wacher, and perhaps a couple of other names. factor in the disaster, Wascher was moved by friends into the Radisson Hotel .". "How would you feel if your worst nightmare had come true? First of all, it meant that the progress strip for SkyWest 5569 did not indicate whether the pilots intended to take off at intersection 45, intersection 47, or full length. After clearing it onto the runway, Wascher had to simply remember where it was. Up at the head of the runway, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 also wanted attention. February 9, 1991 LOS ANGELES, FEB. 8 -- Trembling in shock and smoking a cigarette, Robin Lee Wascher sat in a Los Angeles airport control tower office after guiding two airliners onto the. What information about Robin are you looking for? . USAir fourteen ninety-three, inside of ROMEN, Captain Shaw said, reporting his position. and half of it was for (a) more professional challenge. NTSB report, the combination of these two mistakes led to the inappropriate Failsafes like line of sight to the runway and ground radar were obscured or inoperable and taxiing aircraft is not visible to incoming traffic. One minute later, at 18:03, SkyWest 5569 reached Taxiway 45 and contacted the north complex local controller, Robin Wascher. Forty-six fifty-three, flight 5072 replied, providing their transponder code. Robin Wascher is 70 years old today because Robin's birthday is on 10/12/1952. You can view more information below including images, social media accounts, and more. Koch then claimed that he opened the R1 door, a story which he repeated numerous times over the years, but which appears to be, at best, a case of mistaken recollection, as the NTSB report states that the flight attendant opened this door, not a passenger. It was a startling admission, one which took no small amount of courage. Wascher knew that she had forgotten to clear the Metroliner for takeoff, and that she had cleared USAir flight 1493 to land on top of it, causing the crash and she admitted it immediately. The flight crew, who took over in Washington, consisted of 48-year-old Captain Colin Shaw, a veteran pilot with over 16,000 hours, and 32-year-old First Officer David Kelly, who was less experienced than his captain but was hardly a rookie. Join Facebook to connect with Robin Wascher and others you may know. Cleared for Disaster: Directed by Su Rynard. it was the first public appearance by 38-year-old controller robin lee wascher since the accident and the first time that she acknowledged publicly that her mistake had led to the. Robin Lee will celebrate 101rd birthday on a Wednesday 2nd of December 2020. Even as they rushed him to safety, he urged them to go back in for Captain Shaw, but there was nothing they could do Shaw was already dead. Her voice calm, betraying only the tiniest hint of emotion, Wascher replied, Wings fifty-two twelve, wind two four zero at eight, cleared to land runway two four right ah, use caution, we just had an aircraft go off the runway in flames.. Only three people used the R1 door, including a flight attendant and two passengers. By 2009, all aircraft operating in the United States were compliant. Although the 737s fuel supply was never involved in the fire all the fuel was later found unburnt the rupture of the Metroliners tanks created a pool of burning fuel under the plane that entered the cabin almost immediately. Also to blame was the Federal Aviation She served in the United States Air Force from 1971 until 1977, initially as a dental specialist. It's easy to understand that she focused on directing her other traffic in safely, but she completely forgets about the prop plane until emergency services finds it in the wreckage. In the end, the NTSB identified numerous factors which came together to enable a fatal outcome on the night of February 1st, 1991. The pilot of a Philippine Airlines flight, which was also waiting to cross 24L, called Wascher and asked, Was that for Philippine one zero two, maam?, No, hold short, Wascher replied. Contact me via @Admiral_Cloudberg on Reddit or by email at kylanddempsey@gmail.com. She said she originally thought the landing USAir plane had been hit by a bomb, then "realized something went wrong. In hindsight, one can already see events beginning to spiral out of control, as Wascher struggled to keep track of each plane, its intentions, and the interlocking web of dependencies which those intentions created. It was the first public appearance by the 38-year-old controller, Robin Lee Wascher, since the accident and the first time she acknowledged publicly that her mistake had led to the crash. In its final report, the NTSB wrote that the expectation that controllers can perform for any length of time without error is unwarranted. Quoting their own findings in an earlier runway collision between a Boeing 727 and a Beechcraft King Air in Atlanta, they then added that the cause of both accidents was the failure of the FAA to provide air traffic control procedures that adequately take into account those occasional lapses in performance that must be expected. Flight 1493, a Boeing 737 carrying 82 people, to land at LAX runway 24L. "Aviation is still on a learning anguished over the safety of the passengers that no one could tell The Waschers never arrived back home in Oxnard, and their plane was believed to have crashed somewhere in the rugged wilderness of far northern California. Ms. Brekke said the controller returned to work recently at an administrative job after being placed on paid leave after the accident. Mystery still surrounds the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 but Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. California. Even after the accident, her voice remained calm as she directed other aircraft away from the accident site. Robin Lee Wascher | Bullhead City, AZ | Whitepages Robin Lee Wascher's phone number, Bullhead City, AZ address and more on Whitepages, the most trusted online directory with contact information for over 90% of US adults. Failsafes like line of sight to the runway and ground radar were obscured or inoperable and taxiing aircraft is not visible to incoming traffic. It rear-ended the smaller craft, flattening it and dragging it in flames into the side of an abandoned fire station. That airplane all of a sudden showed up out of nowhere.". That left only the anti-collision lights and the navigation lights. The NTSB cited LAX's procedures which placed much of the responsibility for runways on the local controllers, which directly led to the loss of situational awareness by the local controller. 1978 PSA crash in San Diego and a 1986 Aeromexico crash in Cerritos. The force of the collision caused the tangled planes to slide ", Moments later the controller could be heard directing traffic to other runways, saying at one point, "O.K., we just had a 737 land and blow up. she was short (with pilots) without cause," Shaw said. In the bedroom, Smith found Robin's wife, Annette, lying on the floor in her bra and panties. Preoccupied with another plane, the local controller had forgotten about the But nobody had given her a progress strip for Wings West 5072. SkyWest had a large fleet of Metroliners feeding into the Delta Airlines network, as did rival commuter airline Wings West, which operated the type on behalf of American Eagle. One second later, USAir flight 1493 called the tower for the first time. SkyWest five sixty nine, at forty five, wed like to go from here if we can, the pilot said. In the NTSBs opinion, the regulations were sufficiently clear about who needed to handle progress strips, and besides, the intent of the regulations was to standardize ATC practices across the country, so allowing individual towers to arbitrarily modify those practices would defeat the purpose. As for whether she has found such closure for the trauma of the runway disaster, only she can say. First, the agency urged airlines to upgrade older aircraft with less powerful lighting, such as the Metroliner, to meet the same standards as newer aircraft. of the 89 aboard the larger USAir jet. . Mechanical With a terrific crunch, the plane stopped on a dime, surrounded by fire. Making matters more difficult, the ground radar at LAX was not working on the day of the accident. The fiery collision would leave 35 people dead; some in the crash itself, and many more in the mad rush to escape as fire consumed the wreckage. Because MyLife only collects this data and does not create it, we cannot fully guarantee its accuracy. Wascher had no idea who was talking to her. The L2 exit was blocked by fire, however, and the flight attendant closed it again, forcing those in the back of the plane to use only the R2 exit, on the right side of the plane. One minute and nine seconds later, she gave USAir Flight 1493 permission to land on the same runway. The National. Just over a minute later, an unidentified male voice is heard to say, "What the hell?" flight instructor at Aspen Aviation. The new ATC tower and a functioning ground radar that were finally put in place after the crash sort of speak to that. Meanwhile, Wascher continued to handle numerous airplanes in the vicinity of runways 24L and 24R. Six seconds went by without a response. Ms. Wascher testified during the second day of National Transportation Safety Board hearings to determine the factors that led to the twilight crash. Mr. Kelly said that as the plane lurched to a stop, the cockpit filled with smoke. ", To supplement her Aspen income, Wascher, who is unmarried, held a second fellow controllers stayed with her. Wings fifty seventy-two, [are] you at forty-seven or full length? she asked, trying to determine whether or not the flight wanted an intersection takeoff. Published on Nov 30, 2014 "Just as I lowered the nose . Days after the accident, the FAA ordered all controllers in America to stop clearing aircraft to taxi into position and hold on a runway during nighttime or poor visibility, an order which was later made into a permanent rule. But instead of directing traffic at. The left overwing exit was almost totally blocked by flames; only two passengers managed to escape through it, crawling across the left wing before dropping to the ground. First Officer Kelly kept standing on the brakes, but they seemed to have no effect. That combination of camaraderie and stress-relieving gallows humor is the It was already viewed It is also possible to be an adequate controller whose job changes so much in a decade that the demands outmatch your training. Wascher might never have gotten back into air traffic control were it not for the infamous PATCO strike of 1981, which ended with President Reagans mass firing of every striking controller. Fairchild, still waiting for the take-off command, had only seconds to react This may a have been a sign that she was starting to lose the plot. The recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from both RWA and ACFW and winner of the Christy, RITA, and numerous other awards, Robin has authored over 80 books. 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