There was something remarkable that day, and that was Eastern 902 which was a company L-1011 just in front of it. This article states it was the Captain, but Eastern pilots have told me it was the First Officer who was at the controls. The pilot of 902 elected to go-around when the approach became unstable, and he did two no-no's. First, in lieu of using go-around power, he firewalled the engines likely damaging them. Second, he kept pulling back, ignoring the low airspeed and associated stick shaker which put the airliner in a precarious situation for a stall.
Eastern 66 was just behind it and wasn't able to survive the downdraft. After that accident and interviews, focus was put on the crew of 902 and why they survived. It was determined that firewalling the engines and pulling back on the yoke until the descent rate is arrested was the key to the airliner's survival. This was the birth of what airline pilots train for today - the windshear escape maneuver. Firewall the engines, pull back until the descent rate is arrested, and don't change the configuration until safely flying away.
This maneuver was later solidified with Delta Flight 191. Part of the investigation involved loading the flight and weather data into flight simulators, and the conclusion was if the crew had behaved like the crew of 902, the L-1011 would have likely survived.
This solidified the windshear escape maneuver as part of the training for transport category airplanes.
With the information we have now, the newest doppler radar, and crews alert for this kind of weather, airliners rarely encounter severe windshear anymore. In the rare case they do, the crews know how to respond, thanks to the mistake of the crew of Eastern 902.
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