Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight that crashed into an open field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin shortly after taking off from General Mitchell International Airport on September 6, 1985. The airplane, a Douglas DC-9, was carrying 31 passengers and crew. None of them survived the crash. Multiple eyewitnesses reported that the plane was on fire shortly after it took off from the airport. The fire was caused due to a failure on the right engine where one of its removable sleeve spacers detached. The removable sleeve spacer suffered metal fatigue that caused the engine to explode. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the investigation team who was responsible for the investigation of the crash, concluded that despite the plane suffering engine failure, it was still controllable, and instead the response of the crew to the failure was the main cause of the accident. The crew failed to properly control the plane during the emergency. Breakdown of the crew's coordination also contributed to the crash. Aircraft On September 6, 1985, Flight 105 was a Midwest Express Airlines flight scheduled to be operated using a Douglas DC-9-14 twin-engine, single-aisle jet airliner (registration N100ME). The DC-9 was manufactured in 1968 and delivered to Linea Aeropostal Venezolana. In 1976, it was sold to Aerovias Venezolanas, S.A., who then sold it to K-C Aviation (the owner of Midwest Express) in 1983. The aircraft had accrued a total of 31,892 operating hours and 48,903 cycles at the time of the accident. Passengers and crew Flight 105 departed Milwaukee carrying 27 passengers and 4 crew members. Most of the passengers were businessmen. The two flight attendants were 24-year old Sharon Ann Herb and 21-year old Amy Marie Bain. Instead of a captain and first officer, Flight 105 was crewed by two captains. The first captain of the flight was 31-year old Captain Danny Watkin Martin. Captain Martin was employed by Midwest Express in 1984 as a First Officer. He was promoted as a Captain in 1985 and had accumulated a total of 4,600 flight hours, including 1,000 hours on the DC-9 (600 flight hours as a First Officer on the DC-9, and 500 hours as a captain). Before he was an employee of Midwest, he was a corporate pilot of a Beechcraft 90 King Air. The second captain (though acting as a first officer) was 37-year old Captain William Roger Weiss. Captain Weiss