Other Big Accidents In Sea-Tac's History

Since Seattle-Tacoma International Airport opened in 1944, there have been fewer than a dozen major air accidents at or near the facility, the 18th-busiest airport in the nation.

One of the most spectacular was on April 15, 1988, when a Horizon Air twin-engine de Havilland Dash 8 carrying 40 passengers and crew crashed into a passenger concourse after a forced landing caused by an engine fire.

Nineteen people were injured, including two who were thrown out of the plane.

On Aug. 23 last year, a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron private plane crashed and burned while attempting to land. A passenger was killed and the pilot was injured. The plane hit a knoll just outside the airport, barely missing the seven-story Wyndham Garden Hotel and the 11-story SeaTac Office Tower.

Other significant incidents:

-- In 1989, a twin-engine Cessna ran off a runway after its right landing gear collapsed. No one was injured.

-- In 1975, a twin-engine plane crashed on takeoff near 1334 Military Road S. Three people were killed, three injured. Snow on the wings was blamed for the crash.

-- In 1965, a U.S. Navy HU-16 Grumman Albatross crashed on takeoff. There were no injuries.

-- In 1956, a Boeing Stratocruiser crashed into Puget Sound just after takeoff. Three people died.

-- In 1947, a DC-3 crashed while trying to land in fog at dusk. No injuries.

-- Also in 1947, an Alaska Airlines DC-4 crashed at Des Moines

Way and 12th Place South while trying to land in fog and rain. The plane broke up and burned, killing eight people, including a passenger in a car.

-- In 1945, a single-engine plane flipped over while landing. No injuries.

Known as Bow Lake Airport until 1949, when it became an international airport, Sea-Tac had a record 395,216 flight operations in 1996. It averages 1,000 flights per day, according to its owner/operator, the Port of Seattle.

Research assistance for this article was provided by Steve Selter of The Seattle Times library.

Carole Beers' phone message number is 206-464-2391. Her e-mail address is: cbee-new@seatimes.com