ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines said Wednesday that an internal investigation of a crash at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport last year found its flight crew failed to set the plane's controls in proper takeoff position.
In a brief four-paragraph statement issued late Wednesday, the airline said it had completed its internal investigation into the crash of Flight 1141 on Aug. 31, 1988 that killed 14 people. Ninety-four people survived.
'We at Delta deeply regret this tragic accident,' the statement said. 'After an exhaustive investigation, during which every other possible explanation was carefully analyzed, Delta has reached the conclusion that the flight crew failed to set the aircraft's flaps and slats in the proper takeoff configuration as required by established Delta practices and procedures.
'Accordingly, Delta has accepted responsibility for the accident on that basis.'
Members of Flight 1141's cockpit crew, each contacted at their homes Wednesday night, had no comment.
The position of the flaps on the Boeing 727-200 at takeoff was a focus of the investigation from the beginning. Investigators arriving at the scene found the flaps fully retracted on one wing and partly retracted on the other.
When interviewed by investigators Sept. 14 following the crash, Capt. Larry Davis, 48, of Greenville, Texas, said he did not know what caused the crash and he thought the flaps were correctly deployed.
Davis said the first officer was responsible for lowering the wing flaps to the proper position and he could not recall seeing First Officer Carey W. Kirkland Jr., of Monroe, La. perform the act, but Kirkland said later that he thought he had.
Flight engineer Seven M. Judd, of Lewisville, Texas, said he did not specifically remember lowering the flaps, but verified they were down through his checklist.
The deployment of the flaps is necessary for the aircraft to gain enough lift for takeoff.
Flight 1141 crashed about 9 a.m. as it was departing for Salt Lake City after originating in Jackson, Miss.
The plane's nose lifted only 80 feet off the ground when the left wing began dragging. It plowed into a grassy field about 100 yards south of the runway.
