runway. The captain then shut down all three engines and ascertained that no one on board had been injured and that the aircraft was only lightly damaged. Deciding that no immediate danger existed, he did not order an emergency evacuation, and the passengers and crew deplaned using the rear airstair after the aircraft was sprayed with fire retardant foam as a precaution. The 727 sustained a damaged wing and was later repaired. Aircraft and crew The Douglas DC-9 operating Flight 1482, registered N3313L, was built in 1966 and had a total of 62,253 operating hours. The plane was delivered new to Delta, which sold it to Southern Airways in 1973, and it became part of Northwest's fleet after the 1986 acquisition of Southern's successor, Republic Airlines. It was declared a total loss and scrapped following this incident. The crew consisted of Captain William Lovelace (52), who had 23,000 flight hours with 4,000 hours in the DC-9, and First Officer James Schifferns (43), who had 4,685 flight hours with 185 hours in the DC-9. The Boeing 727 operating Flight 299 was registered N278US and had been purchased by Northwest in 1975. It had 37,310 operating hours. The aircraft was repaired and continued in service for Northwest until 1995. N278US was flown by Kitty Hawk Aircargo before being scrapped in 2011. The crew consisted of Captain Robert Ouellette (42), who had 10,400 flight hours with 5,400 hours on the 727, First Officer William Hagedorn (37), who had 5,400 flight hours with 2,350 hours on the 727, and Flight Engineer Darren Owen (31), who had 3,300 flight hours with 900 hours on the 727. Investigation The accident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, which determined the probable cause of the accident to be: In popular culture The accident is featured in the fourth episode of Season 15 of Mayday, also known as Air Crash Investigation. The episode is titled "Taxiway Turmoil.". As of 02–06-23 this episode is available on Paramount Plus. See also Tenerife airport disaster – 1977 runway incursion in dense fog involving two Boeing 747s, the deadliest such accident in history Madrid runway disaster – 1983 fatal takeoff accident also involving a DC-9 taxiing incorrectly in dense fog and being struck by a 727 taking off Air Canada Flight 759 - 2017 near miss involving an Airbus A320-211 nearly landing on a taxiway occupied by four aircraft Los Angeles