Eastwind Airlines Flight 517

Last updated

Eastwind Airlines Flight 517
Eastwind Airlines Boeing 737-200; N221US, August 1995.jpg
N221US, the aircraft involved in the incident, ten months before the incident
Incident
DateJune 9, 1996;27 years ago (1996-06-09)
SummaryUncommanded rudder hardover [1]
Site Richmond International Airport, Richmond, Virginia, United States
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 737-2H5 [lower-alpha 1]
Operator Eastwind Airlines
IATA flight No.W9517
ICAO flight No.SGR517
Call signSTINGER 517
Registration N221US
Flight origin Trenton-Mercer Airport
Destination Richmond International Airport
Occupants53
Passengers48
Crew5
Fatalities0
Injuries1
Survivors53

On June 9, 1996, while operating a passenger flight from Trenton, New Jersey to Richmond, Virginia, the crew of Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 temporarily lost control of their Boeing 737-200 because of a rudder malfunction. The crew were able to regain control and land the aircraft successfully. One flight attendant was injured.

Contents

Flight 517 was instrumental in resolving the cause of Boeing 737 rudder issues that had caused two previous fatal crashes because it was the first flight to experience such rudder issues and land safely, allowing investigators to interview the pilots about their experience and to study the aircraft.

Background

On March 3, 1991, United Airlines Flight 585, a Boeing 737-200, rolled to the right and went into a vertical dive while attempting to land in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The resulting crash killed all 25 people on board. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) conducted a thorough investigation. Although a rudder problem was suspected, the aircraft's rudder components could not be tested or fully evaluated because they were severely damaged in the crash. As a result, the NTSB was unable to conclusively identify the cause of the crash. [1] :47

On September 8, 1994, USAir Flight 427, a Boeing 737-300, abruptly rolled to the left while on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport in an accident very similar to that of Flight 585. The resulting crash killed all 132 people on board. [1] :1 The NTSB's subsequent investigation persisted throughout the late 1990s.

Flight information

Flight 517 was a scheduled Eastwind Airlines passenger flight from Trenton-Mercer Airport in Trenton, New Jersey to Richmond International Airport in Richmond, Virginia. The flight was operated using a Boeing 737-200 (registration number N221US). On June 9, 1996, Flight 517 was operated by Captain Brian Bishop and First Officer Spencer Griffin. A total of 53 people were on board. [1] :51

Incident

Flight 517 departed Trenton without incident and encountered no turbulence or unusual weather en route to Richmond. While on approach to Richmond International Airport, at an altitude of about 5,000 feet (1,500 m) MSL, the captain felt a brief "kick" or "bump" on the right rudder pedal. [1] :51 Around the same time, a flight attendant at the rear of the plane heard a thumping noise underneath her. [1] :52 As the plane continued to descend through 4,000 feet (1,200 m), the captain suddenly experienced a loss of rudder control and the plane rolled sharply to the right. [1] :51

Attempting to regain control, the captain tried to apply full left rudder, but the rudder controls were stiff and did not respond to his commands. He applied left aileron and increased power to the right engine to try to stop the roll. The airplane temporarily stabilized, and then rolled to the right again. The crew performed their emergency checklist and attempted to regain control of the aircraft, and after several seconds they abruptly regained control. The airplane operated normally for the remaining duration of the flight. [1] :51–52

No damage occurred to the aircraft as a result of the incident. One flight attendant suffered minor injuries. No other passengers or crew aboard Flight 517 were injured. [2] [3]

Investigation and aftermath

The NTSB investigated the incident, with a particular focus on determining whether the events of Flight 517 were related to previous Boeing 737 crashes. [1] :44

During the investigation, the NTSB found that prior to the June 9 incident, flight crews had reported a series of rudder-related events on the incident aircraft, including abnormal "bumps" on the rudder pedals and uncommanded movement of the rudder. [1] :263

Investigators conducted interviews with the pilots of Flight 517, and removed rudder components from the aircraft for examination, which helped to establish the cause of the previous crashes of United Flight 585 and USAir Flight 427. The NTSB determined that all three incidents could be explained only by pilot error or a malfunction of the rudder system, and, based partly on post-accident interviews with the Flight 517 pilots, concluded that rudder malfunctions were likely to have caused all three incidents. [1] :272–273

The NTSB also determined that, unlike the United or USAir accidents, the rudder problem on Flight 517 occurred earlier in the landing process and at a higher speed, which increased airflow over the other control surfaces of the aircraft, allowing the pilots to overcome the rudder-induced roll. [1] :269

N221US returned to service with Eastwind Airlines and continued to operate for them until the airline ceased operations in 1999. On July 17, 1996, N221US was operating as Eastwind Flight 507 to Trenton-Mercer Airport, when the flight crew witnessed the explosion and crash of TWA Flight 800 directly in front of them. Flight 507's crew were the first to report the accident to air traffic control. [4] The aircraft was placed into storage at Greenwood–Leflore Airport in 1999, and was scrapped in 2000. [5]

See also

Notes

  1. The aircraft was a Boeing 737-200 model; Boeing assigns a unique code for each company that buys one of its aircraft, which is applied as a suffix to the model number at the time the aircraft is built, hence "737-2H5" designates a 737-200 built for Mey-Air (customer code H5).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SilkAir Flight 185</span> 1997 aviation incident

SilkAir Flight 185 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by a Boeing 737-300 from Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia to Changi Airport in Singapore that crashed into the Musi River near Palembang, Sumatra, on 19 December 1997, killing all 97 passengers and seven crew on board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Airlines Flight 585</span> 1991 aviation accident in Colorado

United Airlines Flight 585 was a scheduled passenger flight on March 3, 1991, from Denver to Colorado Springs, Colorado, carrying 20 passengers and 5 crew members on board. The plane experienced a rudder hardover while on final approach to runway 35 at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, causing the plane to roll over and enter an uncontrolled dive. All 25 people on board were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles runway disaster</span> 1991 runway collision between two airplanes

On the evening of February 1, 1991, USAir Flight 1493, a Boeing 737-300, collided with SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprop aircraft, upon landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). As Flight 1493 was on final approach, the local controller was distracted, though air traffic was not heavy at LAX, by a series of abnormalities, including a misplaced flight progress strip and an aircraft that had inadvertently switched off the tower frequency. The SkyWest flight was told to taxi into takeoff position, while the USAir flight was landing on the same runway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USAir Flight 405</span> 1992 plane crash in New York City

USAir Flight 405 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight between LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York City, New York, and Cleveland, Ohio. On March 22, 1992, a USAir Fokker F28, registration N485US, flying the route, crashed in poor weather in a partially inverted position in Flushing Bay, shortly after liftoff from LaGuardia. The undercarriage lifted off from the runway, but the airplane failed to gain lift, flying only several meters above the ground. The aircraft then veered off the runway and hit several obstructions before coming to rest in Flushing Bay, just beyond the end of the runway. Of the 51 people on board, 27 were killed, including the captain and a member of the cabin crew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USAir Flight 5050</span> 1989 aviation accident

USAir Flight 5050 was a passenger flight that crashed on takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York. As the plane took off from LaGuardia's runway 31, the plane drifted to the left. After hearing a loud bang, the pilots attempted to reject the takeoff, but were unable to stop the plane short of the end of the runway. The plane continued past the end of the runway and plunged into Bowery Bay. Two passengers were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest Airlines Flight 1248</span> 2005 aviation accident

Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 was a scheduled passenger flight from Baltimore, Maryland, to Chicago, Illinois, continuing on to Salt Lake City, Utah, and then to Las Vegas, Nevada. On December 8, 2005, the airplane slid off a runway at Chicago-Midway while landing in a snowstorm and crashed into automobile traffic, killing a six-year-old boy.

Eastwind Airlines was a start-up airline formed in mid-1995 and headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey, United States, and later in Greensboro, North Carolina. Jim McNally, a former Price Waterhouse analyst who had headed that firm's recovery teams when several other airlines sought management and investment help, founded the airline. McNally's paper airline found a benefactor in UM Holdings, a Haddonfield, New Jersey-based investment company, which provided investment capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garuda Indonesia Flight 200</span> 2007 passenger plane crash in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Garuda Indonesia Flight 200(GA200/GIA 200) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight of a Boeing 737-400 operated by Garuda Indonesia between Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The aircraft overran the runway, crashed into a rice field and burst into flames while landing at Adisucipto International Airport on 7 March 2007. Twenty passengers and one flight attendant were killed. Both pilots survived, and were fired shortly after the accident occurred. It was the fifth hull-loss of a Boeing 737 in Indonesia within less than six months and was the most recent accident with fatalities involving the airline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TWA Flight 841 (1979)</span> 1979 aviation incident

TWA Flight 841 was a scheduled passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, en route to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On April 4, 1979, at or around 9:48 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, while flying over Saginaw, Michigan, the Boeing 727-31 airliner began a sharp, uncommanded roll to the right, and subsequently went into a spiral dive. The pilots were able to regain control of the aircraft and made a successful emergency landing at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

During the 1990s, a series of issues affecting the rudder of Boeing 737 passenger aircraft resulted in multiple incidents. In two separate accidents, pilots lost control of their aircraft due to a sudden and unexpected rudder movement, and the resulting crashes killed everyone on board, 157 people in total. Similar rudder issues led to a temporary loss of control on at least one other Boeing 737 flight before the cause of the problem was ultimately identified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continental Airlines Flight 1404</span> 2008 aviation accident

Continental Airlines Flight 1404 was a Continental Airlines flight from Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado, to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. On the evening of December 20, 2008, the flight crashed while taking off from Denver, resulting in two critical injuries, 36 noncritical injuries, and a hull loss of the Boeing 737-524 aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USAir Flight 427</span> Aviation accident in 1994

USAir Flight 427 was a scheduled flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Palm Beach International Airport, Florida, with a stopover at Pittsburgh International Airport. On Thursday, September 8, 1994, the Boeing 737 flying this route crashed in Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania while approaching Runway 28R at Pittsburgh, which was USAir's largest hub at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Airlines Flight 331</span> 2009 aviation accident

On 22 December 2009, an American Airlines Boeing 737-800, operating American Airlines Flight 331 and carrying 148 passengers and six crew, overran runway 12 on landing at Kingston in poor weather. The plane continued on the ground outside the airport perimeter and broke apart on the beach, causing injuries.

In aeronautics, loss of control (LOC) is the unintended departure of an aircraft from controlled flight and is a significant factor in several aviation accidents worldwide. In 2015 it was the leading cause of general aviation accidents. Loss of control may be the result of mechanical failure, external disturbances, aircraft upset conditions, or inappropriate crew actions or responses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Airlines Flight 85</span> 2002 aviation incident involving a Boeing 747-400 near Anchorage, Alaska, USA

Northwest Airlines Flight 85 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in the United States to Narita International Airport in Japan. On October 9, 2002, while over the Bering Sea, the Boeing 747-400 experienced a lower rudder hardover event, which occurs when an aircraft's rudder deflects to its travel limit without crew input. The 747's hardover gave full left lower rudder, requiring the pilots to use full right upper rudder and right aileron to maintain attitude and course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeroflot Flight 1802</span> 1976 aviation accident

Aeroflot Flight 1802 was a commercial flight from Vinnytsia to Moscow that crashed after the rudder deflected sharply and the propellers feathered on 15 May 1976. All 52 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft perished in the crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest Airlines Flight 345</span> 2013 aviation incident in New York City, US

Southwest Airlines Flight 345 was a scheduled flight from Nashville International Airport, Tennessee, to New York City's LaGuardia Airport. On July 22, 2013, the Boeing 737 operating the route suffered a front landing gear collapse while landing at LaGuardia Airport, injuring 9 people on board. The aircraft, which was worth an estimated $15.5 million at the time, was written off and scrapped as a result of the accident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Airlines Flight 102</span> 1993 aviation accident

American Airlines Flight 102 was a flight operated by a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 from Honolulu International Airport to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. On landing, it was raining and there were numerous thunderstorms in the area. Shortly after touchdown on runway 17L, the pilot lost directional control as the aircraft began to weathervane, and it departed the right side of the runway. All 202 occupants on board survived, with two passengers suffering serious injuries during the emergency evacuation. The aircraft was badly damaged and was written off.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Aircraft Accident Report - Uncontrolled Descent and Collision With Terrain, USAir Flight 427, Boeing 737-300, N513AU, Near Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, September 8, 1994 (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. March 24, 1999. NTSB/AAR-99-01. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  2. "National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Incident Final Report". National Transportation Safety Board. November 30, 2007. DCA96IA061. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  3. "Event Details". fss.aero. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  4. "The Flight 800 Investigation". twa800.com. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  5. "N221US Eastwind Airlines Boeing 737-200". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved May 17, 2020.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Transportation Safety Board .

37°30′18″N077°19′10″W / 37.50500°N 77.31944°W / 37.50500; -77.31944