February 1, 1991
LAX, Los Angeles, California
USAir / Skywest Airlilnes, Flight 1493/5569
Boeing B-737-300 / Swearingen SA-227AC
N388US/N683AV

The Skywest Metroliner was told to taxi into position for takeoff and hold. The ATC became preoccupied with another aircraft that departed the tower frequency. A Wings West aircraft reporting "ready for takeoff", caused some confusion because the controller didn't have a flight progress strip in front of her. The strip appeared to have been misfiled at the clearance delivery position. The USAir, which was cleared to land, landed on top of the Metroliner. After the collision, both planes slid off the runway into an unoccupied fire station and burst into flames. A total of 34 out of 99 killed on both planes.

MXA906 Mexicana906
DR1 Los Angeles departure controller No. 1
DR2 Los Angeles departure controller No.2
LC1 Local (tower) controller No.1
LC2 Local (tower) controller No. 2
PAL102 Philippine Airlines 102
AWE429 America West (Cactus)429
AWE37 America West (Cactus) 37
WWM5006 Wings West 5006
SKW246 Skywest246
SDU518 United Express (Sundance 3518)
CDN505 Canadian505
USA1493 USAir 1493
USA23 USAir 23
USA2858 USAir2858
WWM5072 Wings West 5072
WWM5211 Wings west 5212
SKW5569 Skywest5569
SWA725 Southwest725
PD80 Police Department helicopter 80

5:58:06 MXA906 Mexicana nine oh six, five miles from runway
5:58:10 LC2 Mexicana nine zero six roger, traffic short final, cleared to land runway two four left
5:58:13 Unknown (unintelligible)
5:58:20 LC2 Flipr (Standard Instrument Departure, or SID) after short final
5:58:22 LC1 Ah follow the Flipr going in the slot
5:58:22 PAL102 Ah Los Angeles ah Philippine one zero two heavy is on ah finals two four right
5:58:28 LC2 Philippine one zero two heavy, Los Angeles tower, wind two four zero at six, cleared to land runway two four right
5:58:33 PAL102 One zero two
5:58:34 LC2 Cactus thirty-seven, if able turn left first available high speed, contact ground point six five when off the runway, traffic on a mile and half final behind you
5:58:40 AWE37 Thirty-seven, wilco
5:58:50 SKW246 Tower, Skywest two forty-six will take (taxiway) ferry-seven
5:58:54 LC2 Skywest two forty-six hold there
5:58:57 SKW246 Two forty-six
5:59:02 CDN505 Canadian five zero five on a ah turning final for two four left
5:59:06 LC2 Canadian five zero five, Los Angeles tower, wind two five zero at seven, cleared to land runway two four left, caution wake turbulence preceding heavy Boeing seven forty-seven
5:59:14 CDN505 Cleared to land two four left, Canadian five zero five, three green
5:59:17 LC2 Crossover Cactus four fifty-nine w w (controller initials)
5:59:17 DR1 Santa Barbara c r (controller initials)
5:59:32 LC2 Cactus four twenty-nine taxi into position and hold runway two four left
5:59:35 AWE429 To hold two four left, Cactus four twenty-nine
5:59:52 LC2 Mexicana nine zero six turn left first available high speed, contact ground point six five when off the runway, good night
6:00:01 LC2 Wings West five thousand six turn left at your reverse high speed or the forward high speed, hold short of runway two four left, remain this frequency
6:00:06 WWM5006 Okay
6:00:07 SDU518 Tower, Sundance five eighteen turned to final for two four right
6:00:12 LC2 Sundance five eighteen, Los Angeles tower, wind two five zero at two, cleared to land runway two four right, caution wake turbulence preceding heavy Boeing seven forty-seven
6:00:19 SDU518 Ah cleared to land two four right, understand he is two four left, Sundance five eighteen
6:00:23 LC2 He's two four right also
6:00:26 SDU518 Okay, we're slowin
6:00:28 LC2 Cactus four twenty-nine fly heading two five zero, maintain two thousand, wind two five zero at six, runway two four left cleared for takeoff
6:00:34 AWE429 Cactus four twenty-nine cleared for takeoff two four left, two thousand feet, heading two five zero
6:00:39 LC2 Sundance five eighteen you got two five right in sight?
6:00:42 SDU518 We got two five right in sight and the other guy for two four left's in sight
6:00:44 LC2 Sundance five eighteen understand you have the (unintelligible) Canadian seven thirty-seven just ah be eleven o'clock and a half a mile
6:00:52 SDU518 We have him in sight, we can step over him for two five right
6:00:56 LC2 Sundance five eighteen change to runway two five right, wind two five zero at six, cleared to land runway two five right, contact tower one two zero point niner five
6:01:03 SDU518 Thank you, steppin' over to two five right over to the other tower, Sundance five eighteen, thanks for the help
6:01:08 LC2 Alaska twenty
6:01:08 LC1 Z. Z. (controller initials)
6:01:31 LC2 Cactus four twenty-nine contact Los Angeles departure, good night
6:01:34 AWE429 Cactus four twenty-nine, good night
6:01:44 LC2 Rundown USAir twenty-three (unintelligible) crossover
6:01:46 DR1 Roger
6:01:50 Unknown Lights on (taxiway?) uniform
6:01:53 LC2 Calling ground say a eh tower, say again
6:01:56 Unknown Landing lights on uniform?
6:02:02 LC2 Affirmative
6:02:04 LC2 Philippine one zero two heavy turn left when able, hold short of runway two four left, remain this frequency
6:02:12 PAL102 Ah (unintelligible)
6:02:14 LC2 Thank you
6:02:18 Unknown (unintelligible)
6:02:21 LC1 I gotta heavy Ventura (SID)
6:02:22 LC2 Ah follow the German (SID) (unintelligible)
6:02:25 LC1 Z. Z. (unintelligible)
6:02:26 LC1 Z. Z.
6:02:28 LC2 USAir twenty-three taxi into position and hold runway two four left
6:02:30 USA23 Position and hold ah two four left, USAir twenty-three
6:02:34 Unknown One three point six five one niner tango
6:02:39 DR2 Say again local two
6:02:39 LC2 Request ah two seventy Skywest
6:02:42 DR2 On who Skywest who
6:02:43 LC2 Two forty-six
6:02:44 DR2 Approved
6:02:48 LC2 Canadian . . .
6:02:49 LC1 Call ya back on the heavy Ventura
6:02:50 LC2 Canadian five zero five turn left when able, contact ground point six five when off the runway, good night
6:03:00 PAL102 One zero two is ah only to hold ma'am?
6:03:02 LC2 One zero two heavy affirmative, hold short of runway two four left
6:03:06 PAL102 Hold short
6:03:09 WWM5006 Can ah Wings fifty oh six cross two four left?
6:03:12 LC2 Fifty oh six hold short
6:03:13 WWM5006 Hold short
6:03:18 LC2 USAir twenty-three fly heading two five zero, maintain two thousand, wind two five zero at six, runway two four left cleared for takeoff
6:03:24 USA23 Okay two thousand, two fifty, cleared to go, USAir twenty-three
6:03:30 LC2 Skywest two forty-six you still holding short of (taxiway) forty-seven?
6:03:33 SKW246 Two forty-six, affirmative
6:03:35 LC2 You're next
6:03:36 SKW246 Roger
6:03:38 SKW569 Skywest ah five sixty-nine at (taxiway) forty-five, we'd Like to go from here if we can
6:03:40 LC2 Skywest five sixty-nine taxi up to and hold short of two four Left
6:03:44 SKW569 okay hold short
6:03:53 SWA725 Southwest ah seven twenty-five's ready in sequence
6:03:56 LC2 Skywest two forty-six taxi across runway two four left, runway two four right shoreline turn right heading two seven zero, maintain two thousand, wind two four zero at six, cleared for takeoff
6:04:05 SKW246 'Ray two seventy to two thousand, two forty six cleared for takeoff
6:04:09 LC2 Runway two four right
6:04:10 SKW246 Affirmative
6:04:11 LC2 Wings five thousand six taxi across runway two four left, contact ground point six five when off the runway, good night
6:04:17 PAL102 Was that for Philippine one zero two ma'am?
6:04:19 LC2 No sir, hold short. Wings five thousand and six taxi across runway two four left, contact ground point six five when off the runway.
6:04:30 LC2 USAir twenty-three contact Los Angeles departure, good night
6:04:32 USA23 Good night
6:04:33 USA1493 USAir fourteen ninety-three inside of Roman (outer marker beacon)
6:04:38 LC2 Wings five thousand and six, ground eh tower
6:04:44 LC2 Skywest five sixty-nine taxi into position and hold runway two four left, traffic will cross downfield
6:04:49 SKW569 'Key two four left position and hold, Skywest five sixty-nine
6:04:52 LC2 Wings West five thousand and six, tower
6:04:59 SWA725 Tower, Southwest seven twenty-five's ready in sequence
6:05:02 LC2 Southwest seven twenty-five roger, taxi up to and hold short of two four left
6:05:05 SWA725 Up to hold short, Southwest seven twenty-five
6:05:06 LC2 You'll follow the Metroliner
6:05:09 WWM5006 (unintelligible) on frequency again, changed radios, sorry 'bout that
6:05:12 LC2 Five thousand six you're back with me?
6:05:14 WWM5006 Yeah and we didn't mean to switch radios, we're now on
6:05:16 LC2 Okay, I thought I lost you, taxi (unintelligible) runway two four, contact ground point six five when off the runway, traffic will hold in position
6:05:21 WWM5006 Great and we thought we lost you, we apologize
6:05:23 LC2 No problem. Sundance five eighteen taxi across runway two four left, contact ground point six five when off the runway, good night
6:05:29 USA1493 USAir fourteen ninety-three for the left side, two four Left
6:05:33 LC2 Skywest two forty-six heading two seven zero, contact Los Angeles departure, good night
6:05:38 SKW246 Two forty-six, good night
6:05:39 LC2 Southwest seven twenty-five you're holding short of two four left, correct?
6:05:44 LC2 Southwest seven twenty-five, tower
6:05:47 SWA725 Ah seven twenty-five, go ahead
6:05:48 LC2 Yes sir you're holding short, is that correct?
6:05:50 SWA725 Yes ma'am, we're holding short
6:05:51 LC2 Thank you. USAir fourteen ninety-three cleared to land runway two four left
6:05:55 USA1493 Cleared to land two four left, fourteen ninetythree
6:05:58 USA2858 Twenty-eight fifty-eight's for the right, five miles
6:05:59 LC2 USAir twenty-eight fifty-eight, wind two three zero at eight, cleared to land runway two four right
6:06:04 USA2858 Cleared to land
6:06:08 WWM5072 Tower, Wings West fifty seventy-two is ready for takeoff
6:06:13 LC2 Wings fifty seventy-two?
6:06:15 WWM5072 Affirmative
6:06:17 LC2 Wings fifty seventy-two, you at (taxiway) forty-seven or full length?
6:06:20 WWM5072 We're full length
6:06:21 LC2 Okay
6:06:26 LC2 Hold short
6:06:28 WWM5072 Roger holding short
6:06:30 LC2 Wings fifty seventy-two say your squawk
6:06:33 WWM5072 Forty-six fifty-three
6:06:46 WWM5212 Los Angeles tower, Wings West fifty-two twelve with you on the visual two four right
6:06:51 LC1 Of runway two five right
6:06:51 LC2 Flipr
6:06:54 Unknown Cross the left, hold short of the right, Alpha Air one zero
6:06:55 LC1 Flipr approved inside
6:06:55 LC2 Southwest seven twenty-five taxi into position and hold runway two four left
6:06:58 SWA725 Southwest seven twenty-five, position and hold two four left
6:07:00   (Crash occurs between USAir 1493 and Skywest 569 on runway 24 Left at taxiway 45, 2,400 ft. beyond the threshold)
6:07:04 Unknown What the hell
6:07:23 Unknown Helicopters
6:07:23 LC2 Southwest seven twenty-five just remain off the runway at this time
6:07:25 Unknown Helicopters
6:07:28 SWA725 Southwest seven twenty-five, remain off the runway
6:07:30 PD80 Helicopters, p d eighty, you need any help over there?
6:07:32 LC2 Right now we don't know
6:07:33 PD80 Okay
6:07:35 WWM5212 Wing fifty-two twelve ah we're on a visual two four right
6:07:36 Unknown We'd like to work just along Ballona Creek here, we'll stay (unintelligible)
6:07:39 LC2 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 flame
6:07:46 WWM5212 Okay ah yeah we see that and ah we're cleared to land on two four right
6:08:02 PD80 Helicopters, police eighty
6:08:09 LC2 And USAir twenty-eight fifty-eight turn left when able hold short of runway two four left till we find out what happened
6:08:16 USA2858 Roger I understand, do you want us to go down to the far end?
6:08:19 LC2 Twenty-eight fifty-eight ah turn left at (taxiway) seventy-five if you can, no delay off the runway, traffic on a mile final
6:08:24 USA2858 'kay will take the high speed and hold
6:08:28 Unknown You can take the Wings West to the north if you want
6:08:31 LC2 Okay, we just had a, did she tell you what happened on final?
6:08:34 Unknown No
6:08:35 LC2 Okay, we just had a seven thirty-seven land and blow up, he went up in flame, he's off the runway right now, two four left is closed
6:08:41 Unknown Is the right still open?
6:08:42 LC2 Yeah the right's still open
6:08:44 Unknown Okay

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