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MD88 Image: randomduck
This is the story of delta airlines flight 554, on the 19th of october 1996 an MD 88 was on its way from Atlanta to new yorks laguardia airport. For the crew of flight 554 this was day one of a three day stint, when they got to atlanta they were were provided with the weather and all necessary information that theyd need to get to new york. There was a bit of weather activity around new york but nothing that drew concern from the pilots. The plane departed at 2:41 PM. The flight was routine. Sure there might have been a bit more turbulence than usual but nothing that would be any cause for concern. But as they approached new york they could see that there were large patches of rain clouds in and around new york. This was going to be a bumpy ride in .

As the plane got closer to laguardia the controller assigned the runway 13 ILS approach to flight 554. As new york air route traffic control handed the plane over to the new york terminal radar approach control the captain was finishing up his landing briefing. One of the last things he said in the briefing was ““Glideslopes unusable below two hundred feet...final approach course crosses runway centerline and twentyseven hundred and fiftyfour feet from threshold.. , .” With that the briefing was done and the pilots turned their attention to the weather ahead of them.

As the MD88 lined up with the runway the pilots were battling some strong winds, the captain said “ still showing 63 knots of wind now” the first officer was concerned that theyd be blown off course but they still had things under control. As soon as they intercepted the glidelsope the plane was handed over to laguardia tower. The controller told them that they were number two for landing and a bunch of other things but he gave them an RVR value or the runway visual range, which was at 3000. This caused the captain to say “Must be raining hard at the airport”. But despite this they started their descent from 3000 feet down to the runway. As flight 554 cut through the clouds, the piots experienced light to moderate precipitation and the turbulence eased up a bit. This was good news for all onboard.
As the plane got lower and lower, the first officer called “a 1000 feet above minimums”, they still weren't out of the clouds yet, apparently the cloud ceiling was lower than what the captain had been told. As delta 554 was on final another was taking off from runway 13 and once they were clear the MD88 got its final landing clearance. As they got the clearance the pilot started to see the ground for the first time. Right as the captain took manual control of the plane the TWA plane that was taking off from runway 13 had to reject their takeoff. The controller was asking them to expedite their exit from the runway so that flight 554 wouldnt have to go around. As the delta 554 was 492 feet above the ground the captain swore, he didnt like that the TWA had rejected its takeoff and now he might have to go around but they still might make be able to make it. Soon after the first officer stated “200 above”. They were just 200 feet above their minimum descent altitude and if they didnt have the runway in sight by the time they hit their minimums then they'd have to go around. As they descended they were just 100 feet above their miniums and then through the clouds and for the captain said “I got the approach lights in sight”. They would be able to land, the TWA aircraft was off the runway and now they had the runway itself. But the first officer noticed that the plane was a bit high and to the left and he let the captain know. An automated callout minimums was made, as the captain pulled back power on the engines the first officer said “ a little slow a little slow”, they were trying their best to keep the plane where it needed to be. Then suddenly the plane was aimed right at the approach