On July 9, 1982, the Boeing 727 flying this route crashed in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner after being forced down by a microburst shortly after takeoff.

The aircraft was powered by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B turbofan engines,[2] and was renamed from 37 Susan/Erica to Clipper Defiance after National was merged with Pan Am.

[1]: 78  Pierce was described by other captains as a conscientious pilot with excellent knowledge of aircraft systems and company flight procedures and techniques.

[1]: 4–5 The weather forecast issued at 07:40 on July 9 by the New Orleans National Meteorological Center contained thunderstorms, possible severe turbulence, icing, and wind shear.

The weather chart at 18:00 local time identified a high pressure system located 60 nautical miles (69 mi; 110 km) off the Louisiana coast.

In one of the destroyed houses, a 16-month-old baby girl was discovered in a crib covered with debris that protected her from the flames, sustaining only minor burns.

[1]: 1, 72  The investigation noted the failure of the US Government to "put out proper weather information that day and to maintain wind shear detection devices at the airport.

"[8] The New York Times reported that: According to witnesses, a wind shear alert was mentioned on New Orleans Airport radio frequencies on July 9, before Flight 759 took off.

[10][11] Flight 759, along with Delta Air Lines Flight 191 which crashed due to similar circumstances three years later, led to the development of the Airborne wind shear detection and alert system and the Federal Aviation Administration mandate to install windshear detection systems at airports and on board aircraft in the U.S. by 1993.