Gord Beaman wrote:


Quote --

The plane had taken off from nearby Washington National Airport, and due
to wing icing and pilot error, the aircraft lost altitude and crashed
into the 14th Street Bridge and the Potomac River less than a mile from
the airport.


I don't think that this is correct...I believe that the crew
didn't turn the engine anti-icing on which caused the engine
probes to ice up and deliver an improper reading of EPR to the
cockpit gauges...this caused the EPR to read high and as a result
the engines were operated at something like 70-80% power instead
of 100%. This caused a near stall and very slow (or no) climb
until they hit the bridge. I'll never understand why the
throttles weren't firewalled when they almost stalled on rotate.
(but then, hindsight.....etc

A USAirways instructor/pilot said they were a victim of their training:
Never exceed the red line. They didn't but as you pointed out, a
slight increase in power would have let them clear the bridge.