| " a true tale of...........T W I S T E D F A T E" |
| The Cockpit Crew of WAL Flight 2605 |
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| Captain Charles Gilbert Sr. |
| All flight crew members were properly certified and qualified for the flight and were in compliance with flight time and duty time limitations as prescribed by the Federal Air Regulation, Part 121, Subpar R, Section 483. All crew members were domiciled in Los Angeles. |
| He also held certificates as flight ionstructor and ground instructor. He possessed a first-class medical certificate dated August 29, 1979 with limitation requiring corrective glasses for reading. He had been qualified into Mexico City airport as pilot-in-command for approximately 15 years and is estimated to have made 350 landings there. He had landed in Mexico City four times in October. On the morning of October 14, 1979, subsequent to a NOTAMed closure of Runway 23 Left, Flight 605, which Captain Gilbert commanded, was cleared to land on Runway 23 Left and did so. This landing occurred while the regular First Officer was on sick leave. |
| First Officer Ernest Richel |
| The First officer, age 44, initially received his flight training in the U.S. Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training program under an agreement by which the USAF trained pilots for the Federal German Air Force (Luftwaffe). After completing his required duty in Germany, he returned to the U.S. and joined Western Air Lines on January 15, 1968. He held a commercial and instrument pilot's certificate with airplane single and multi-engine land priviledges and a flight engineer turbojet certificate. His FAA first-class medical certificate was dated January 2, 1979 with no waivers or limitations. He had recently performed 15 landingings at Mexico City airport as DC-10 F/O. four occurring in October. The latter two were subsequent to the NOTAM closure of Runway 23 Left. They occurred on October 19 and the 24, 1979 while the regular Captain was on sich leave. Both landings were made on Runway 23 Left. |
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| Second Officer Daniel Walsh |
| The S/O. age 39, initially received his flight training in the U.S. Air Force. He joined Western Air Lines February 24, 1969. He held a commercial pilot certificate with an instrument rating in airplanes and airplane single-engine and multi-engine land, airplane single-engine sea, and holicopter priviledges with a type CE500 (Citation). He also held a flight engineer turbojet certificate. He possessed a first-class medical certificate dated August 14, 1979 with no waivers. He had recently made 16 flights into Mexico City airport as DC-10 S/O, five occurring in October 1979. Landings on the 19 and 24 were made on Runway 23 Left subsequent to that runway's being NOTAM closed. He was reported to have had a full nights sleep the previous night and had a 3-hour nap during the afternoon of the 30th. The S/O had called in sick for the flight on the 25th. His ailment was gastric upset. He took no medication nor was he known to have been on medication at the time of the accident. Because of severe family impact it was not possible to accurately log the S/O's activities to a greater degree. |
| A Breakdown of Pertinent Flight Time |
| Flight Time Captain F/O S/O Total 31,627:16 8,666:40 6,469:22 DC-10 2,251:35 357:03 1,351:29 Last 12 hours 3:00 3:00 3:00 Last 24 hours 4:50 3:00 3:00 Last 48 hours 4:50 3:00 3:00 DC-10 12:37 16:06 6:29 Last 30 days 56:35 41:00 44:40 DC-10 40:45 41:00 41:00 Last 60 days 129:41 97:42 88:52 DC-10 93:59 97:42 88:52 Last 90 days 155:06 173:56 161:41 DC-10 106:59 173:56 161:41 Known sleep last 24 hours 5:00 unknown 4:00 Rest before trip 2:00 unknown 3:00 |
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| Pertinent Activities of the Capt. & F/O Prior to Reporting for Duty |
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| The Captain, age 53, initially received his flight training as a civilian after WWII under the GI Bill of Rights. After working for the Flying Tigers, he joined Western Air Lines on July 21, 1949. He held an Airline Transport Pilot certificate with type ratings in Boing 707/720. Lockheed 188, Douglas DC-3/6/7/10 aircraft and airplane single-engine and multi-engine and sea privileges. |