On the afternoon of August 2nd, 1985, Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a regularly scheduled service from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Florida to Los Angeles International Airport, California, by way of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, crashed when it hit a microburst (a violent downdraft of air created during a sudden storm) while landing, killing 8 of 11 crew members, 126 of 152 passengers on board, and one person on the ground. Two people later died 30 days or more after the crash, bringing the total fatalities to 137. 27 people survived.

The accident aircraft was N726DA, a Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar, delivered to Delta in 1979. What follows is a brief description from official reports of the accident:

At 1803;46, the approach controller requested Flight 191 slow to 150 knots and to contact the DFW tower. Flight 191 switched to tower frequency and at 1803:58 stated, "Tower, Delta one ninety one heavy, out here in the rain, feels good."

The tower cleared the flight to land and informed it, "wind zero nine zero at five, gusts to one five." The aircraft was then configured for landing with gear down and flaps at 33 degrees.

At 1804:18, the first officer said, "Lightning coming out of that one." The captain asked, "What," and the first officer repeated, "Lightning coming out of that one." The captain asked, "Where," and at 1804:23, the first officer replied, "Right ahead of us." Flight 191 continued descending on the final approach course.

At 1805:05, Flight 191, at 1,000 feet and encountering the northern gust front of a microburst, experienced a headwind increase that accelerated the airspeed of the aircraft to 173 knots. In response, the flight crew retarded the throttles to near flight idle in an attempt to preserve the approach speed of 150 knots.

At 1805:19, Flight 191 entered the rainshaft directly beneath the convective cell. The captain cautioned the first officer to watch his airspeed and a sound, identified as rain, was recorded on the CVR. At 1805:21, the captain warned the first officer, "You're gonna lose it all of a sudden, there it is." At 1805:26, the captain stated, "Push it up, push it way up."

At 1805:29, throttles were full forward and the sound of engines at high rpm was heard on the CVR, and the captain said, "That's it."

At 1805:44, the airplane was 420 feet above the ground, its descent rate was about 3,000 feet per minute, its airspeed began to increase, and it was in a strong downdraft. The CVR recorded the first Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) alert, and one second later the captain called, "TOGA," presumably referring to his selection of the "TakeOff/Go-Around" mode for the flight director.

At 1805:52, the aircraft touched down in a field, approximately 6,000 feet north of the approach end of runway 17L. About the same time, the airplane emerged from the rain shaft, airborne, crossing State Highway 114. The L-1011's left engine struck a car, killing the driver instantly. This impact and an impact with a light pole on the highway caused a fire to break out on the left side of the airplane in the vicinity of the wing root.

Witnesses generally agreed that the airplane then struck the ground in a left-wing-low attitude, careening forward and striking two water towers on the airport property. The fuselage rotated counter-clockwise after the left wing and cockpit area struck the water tanks. A large explosion obscured the witnesses' view momentarily, and then the tail section emerged from the fireball skidding backwards. The tail section finally came to rest on its left side with the empennage pointing south and was subsequently blown to an upright position by wind gusts.

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