Aircraft of the US Airways 1702 Crash at KPHL - 1/11/20

Real World Aviation Spotting
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Hello IFC!

I have some very interesting photos to share in this thread. :)

To give some background info if you haven’t heard of US Airways 1702…
On March 14th, 2014, US1702 was a commercial flight from KPHL-KFLL being operated by an Airbus A320-200 (N113UW).

To summarize the accident, the cause was pilot error. They entered the wrong runway information, which led to a tailstrike. Upon rotation, the pilots attempted to abort takeoff; but when touching down the front landing gear collapsed.

Here’s footage taken of the accident

All 154 people on board survived, but the aircraft received substantial damage. The aircraft was quickly written off, and it has been sitting in storage at KPHL since.

If you’d like more information, here’s a couple of links:

More information

AviationSafetyNetwork
EverybodyWiki
NTSB Report

You can spot the aircraft very upclose along Fort Mifflin Rd. There’s a fence between you and the aircraft, but you still can take great photos.

From Google Maps, you can see the aircraft tied down aswell:
KPHL Location

Anyways, enjoy the couple of photos I took! Please mention if I made any mistakes with the information I stated above aswell.

N113UW-2
N113UW-22048×1365 1.39 MB

You can see from this angle what is supporting the aircraft up, after the front landing gear collapsed. The aircraft was originally entirely covered by the blue cover, but over the years it has torn away, revealing the US Airways A320.

N113UW
N113UW2048×1365 1.43 MB

Another angle of the front of the aircraft. You can see US Ariways tried their best in a hurry to remove their markings from the aircraft. But it’s still pretty easy to identify the airline, especially from an eye from an aviation enthusiast.

N113UW-3
N113UW-32048×1366 1.39 MB

A closeup look on the rear landing gears. These wheels have remained stationary for over 6 years, and it doesn’t seem like they’ll be moving again any time soon.

N113UW-4
N113UW-42048×1365 778 KB

The final photo I’ll be posting, the tail of the aircraft. Again, US Airways tried to cover up the fact it’s their aircraft. It’s still pretty easy to identify though.

It’s pretty sad to see this aircraft just sitting here. Personally, I think it would be pretty cool to see it apart of a museum, or just on display. But for now, it will remain at KPHL.

Thank you for checking out my fifth planespotting thread! Feel free to check out my other planespotting threads below if you’d like.

My other planespotting threads

Trump’s Arrival to KABE - 5/14/20
Smoky Landings at KFLL - 11/23/19
Waving Pilots at KBUF - August 2019
Cloudy Afternoon at KPHL - 1/11/20

I post daily on my planespotting Instagram page, feel free to check that out too: Instagram Page

Thanks again for checking out my thread! I’d appreciate your feedback on my photos!

Have a good day :)

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I’ve never heard of this until earlier today, thanks for sharing! It’s just so sad to see aircraft sitting and rotting away, it would be much better it it could be maintained and become a small museum to remember this incident. Thanks for posting!

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Wow that is actually very cool Do you know why US Airways tried to cover it up?

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Sad to see it like that. Your shots are really good though!

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If I had to take a guess, it is because it doesn’t look good (on record) that their aircraft was involved in an accident, especially due to pilot error.

That aside, @Bryan4558 stunning photos! Super sad to see a piece of mechanical engineering rotting away 😔

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Yeah that would make sense.

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Those are quite the images! She does look fairly worn out and sad with all the deterioration

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To reiterate on what @Zachary said, it’s mostly a reputation thing. Similar to why many airlines don’t necessarily appreciate people taking photos of their grounded aircraft, it can give off the idea that the airline is not doing well or might not train their pilots well etc.

Anyway, @Bryan4558 amazing pictures, its always weird to see planes not in functional form either in the state you’ve shown or being ripped apart and left to rot at salvage yards.

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Thank you everyone!

I kind of posted this based on your comment, because it doesn’t seem many people know about this incident. There isn’t even a Wikipedia page on the incident! @Butter_Boi

@Captain-787 I’m agreeing with what @Zachary and @KGJT-9149 said. It’s just not a good image for an airline, even if now the airline is no longer in this case. That’s why many airlines paint over their markings whenever they send aircrafts into retirement.

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Wasn’t this aircraft used in filming sully too or was that just a rumor? Loved this thread!!

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Well that’s not good. Maybe you should write one. 🤔

Means a lot, thanks for teaching me even more about this!

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Almost feel bad for the poor bird…😞

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Unfortunate but odd. Wasn’t the merger announced in 2013 anyways? Besides, it looks like that bird could enter service again with the proper refurbishing…

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I’m pretty sure they did use a retired US Airways A320, but I don’t think it was this one specifically. @DeltaMD88Fan

It may be able to enter service again… but it’s missing the front landing gear. It would probably make more financial sense to just leave it. @nativetoalaska

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