Delta Air Lines Flight 554

Delta Air Lines Flight 554

The aftermath of N914DL
Accident
Date	October 19, 1996 (1996-10-19)
Summary	Aircraft collided with approach lighting system due to pilot's monovision contact lenses
Site	LaGuardia Airport, New York City, United States 40°46′33.6″N73°51′47.9″W / 40.776000°N 73.863306°W / 40.776000; -73.863306
Aircraft
N914DL, the aircraft involved, seen here utilizing the current livery
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas MD-88
Operator	Delta Air Lines
Registration	N914DL
Flight origin	Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, United States
Destination	LaGuardia Airport, New York, United States
Occupants	63
Passengers	58
Crew	5
Fatalities	0
Injuries	5
Survivors	63

Delta Air Lines Flight 554 was a scheduled Delta Air Lines domestic passenger flight between Atlanta and New York City's LaGuardia Airport. On October 19, 1996, the McDonnell Douglas MD-88 aircraft struck the approach light structure and the vertical edge of the concrete landing deck during its approach to land on Runway 13 at LaGuardia Airport. The aircraft proceeded to skid 2,700 feet down the runway before coming to a rest. Of the 58 passengers and 5 crew members aboard, 5 received minor injuries. ^{[1] [2] [3]} The aircraft was substantially damaged and repaired, at a cost of 14 million dollars. ^{[1] [4]}

The final report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the probable cause of the accident was the inability of the captain, because of his use of monovision contact lenses, to overcome his misperception of the aircraft's position relative to the runway during the visual portion of the approach.

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a McDonnell Douglas MD-88, registered as N914DL, serial number 49545. The airplane was purchased from the McDonnell Douglas and was put into service in June 1988. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219 turbofan engines. ^{[4] [1] : 21}

Crew

In command was Captain Joseph G. Broker, a 48-year-old who was hired by Delta on September 5, 1978. He held and airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate with airplane single-engine land privileges, and MD-88 and Cessna 500 type ratings. The captain had about 10 years of civilian and military flight experience before he joined Delta Air Lines, including 3,320 total flight hours in North American F-100 Super Sabres. ^[5]

The first officer was Henry Grady Lane, age 38. He was hired by Delta on May 30, 1988. He held an ATP certificate with airplane multiengine land and instrument ratings. He also had commercial pilot privileges for airplane single-engine land. He had no restrictions or limitations on his most recent medical certificate. The first officer had 6 years of military flight experience in the U.S. Air Force. He began his Delta career as a flight engineer on a Boeing 727 and performed flight crew member duties in the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar and McDonnell Douglas DC-9 aircraft before he transitioned to being a first officer on the MD-88 in November 1992. ^{[1] [6]}

History of the flight

Flight 554 took off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at 2:41 PM EST, after leaving the gate at 2:31 PM. The departure, climb, and en route portions of the flight proceeded uneventfully, although they experienced turbulence at their cruising altitude of flight level 370 ^a .

The aircraft began its descent from 3,000 feet on the ILS DME approach to runway 13. The weather at the time was an 800ft. (243m) broken ceiling, with a visibility of 0.5 miles (0.8km) in the fog and a runway visual range of 3000ft. (914m.) ^{[1] [7]}

Accident

LaGuardia Airport, with runway 13 approach lights, the point of initial impact, and the point where the airplane came to rest on runway 13 depicted.

At 4:38 PM EST, LaGuardia ATCT stated, "You are cleared to land, Delta five fifty-four," and the first officer acknowledged the landing clearance. The CVR recorded the sound of the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) announcing minimums. About a second later, the captain stated that he had the approach lights in sight.

According to the CVR transcript, the captain began to reduce the engine power, and the first officer stated, "Nose up." The CVR recorded the sound of the GPWS "sink rate" warning, followed by sounds of impact at 4:38:36.5 PM EST. ^[8]

LaGuardia Airport. Runway 13 starts at the bottom-center of the photo and extends towards the top left.

The right wing of the airplane struck the approach light structure in Flushing Bay and the vertical edge of the concrete runway deck, and then skidded approximately 2,700 feet down the 7,000 ft. runway 13 on its lower fuselage and nose landing gear before it came to a stop. ^{[9] [10]}

The nose landing gear came to a stop on the pavement, with the fuselage oriented on a 345° heading; the left wing extended towards the runway centerline, and the right wing extended over the wet, grassy area next to the runway. Wreckage was scattered across the length of the 2,700 ft. skid. According to flight and cabin crewmember statements, after the airplane came to a stop, the pilots began to assess the damage to the airplane and determine whether an emergency evacuation was warranted, while the flight attendants picked up their interphone handsets and awaited instructions.

About 74 seconds after the airplane came to a stop (about 94 seconds after impact), the captain issued the emergency evacuation command after a non-revenue Delta pilot and Jennifer Teas, the Flight Attendant In Charge (FAIC) reported that they smelled jet fuel fumes in the cabin, as 600 gallons of jet fuel leaked from the aircraft's right wing. All aircraft occupants exited through the left front door slide. ^[1]

Investigation

The NTSB investigated into the accident, and determined that the probable cause was due to the inability of the captain, because of his use of monovision contact lenses, to overcome his misperception of the airplane’s position relative to the runway during the visual portion of the approach. This misperception occurred because of visual illusions produced by the approach over water in limited light conditions, the absence of visible ground features, the rain and fog, and the irregular spacing of the runway lights. Contributing to the accident was the lack of instantaneous vertical speed information available to the pilot not flying, and the incomplete guidance available to optometrists, aviation medical examiners, and pilots regarding the prescription of unapproved monovision contact lenses for use by pilots. ^{[1] [7]}

See also

• Delta Air Lines Flight 1086, a Delta flight that flew an identical route and also crashed at Runway 13 at LaGuardia

Notes

^a Flight level 370 means 37,000 feet above sea level, based on their altimeter setting of 29.92 inches of mercury.

References

1. "DESCENT BELOW VISUAL GLIDEPATH AND COLLISION WITH TERRAIN DELTA AIR LINES FLIGHT 554" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. August 25, 1997. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 4, 2025. Retrieved January 4, 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
2. Dismukes, R. Key; Berman, Benjamin A.; Loukopoulos, Loukia (2017). The Limits of Expertise: Rethinking Pilot Error and the Causes of Airline Accidents (1st ed.). London: Routledge (published 2007). ISBN   9781315238654.
3. "Delta Jet Skids Off La Guardia Runway". The New York Times. 1996-10-20. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-01-06.
4. "Accident McDonnell Douglas MD-88 N914DL, Saturday 19 October 1996". Aviation Safety Network . Retrieved 2025-01-04.
5. "Broker, Joseph G." Super Sabre Society. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
6. "Operations 2 - Attachment 1 - Crew and Witness Interview Summaries" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. October 21, 1996. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
7. "Delta Air Lines 544 CVR Transcript". Cockpit Voice Recorder Database. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
8. Ranter, Harro. "Aviation Safety Network > Accident investigation > CVR / FDR > Transcripts > CVR transcript Delta Airlines Flight 554 - 19 OCT 1996". mail.aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
9. "Delta skid joins list of these 7 other LaGuardia Airport runway mishaps". New York Daily News. 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
10. "NTSB leaving Delta crash site - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2025-01-06.