American Airlines Flight 331
| American Airlines Flight 331 | |
|---|---|
 The crashed machine |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Overshooting the runway end |
| place |
Kingston , Jamaica
|
| date | December 22, 2009 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 154 (all) |
| Injured | 44 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-800 |
| operator | American Airlines |
| Mark | N977AN |
| Departure airport | Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport |
| Stopover | Miami International Airport |
| Destination airport | Kingston Airport |
| Passengers | 148 |
| crew | 6th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
American Airlines Flight 331 was a scheduled international flight from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC in the United States to Kingston , Jamaica, with a stopover in Miami , which overshot the perimeter fence when it landed at the airport in the Jamaican capital of the airport broke through and eventually broke apart. 148 passengers and six crew members were on board the machine.
The factors that led to the accident included the high speed of the aircraft on landing and the touchdown point of the aircraft at half the length of the runway. A Boeing 747 of Virgin Atlantic landed shortly before Flight 331 under similar weather conditions without any problems.
plane
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 737-823 with the aircraft registration number N977AN. The production number of the aircraft was 29550. It made its maiden flight on November 30, 2001. It was delivered to American Airlines on December 20, 2001 .
Course of events
The Boeing 737-800, coming from Washington, DC with a stopover in Miami, skidded when landing at 10:22 p.m. local time (3:22 a.m. UTC on December 23) on runway 12 and overshot the end of the runway, breaking through Fencing the airport, crossed a street and came to a stop on the beach behind the airport.
Heavy rain fell at the time of landing . After the accident, a special METAR was issued out of turn .
A wing and an engine were torn from the fuselage. This broke into three larger parts in front of and behind the wings. The landing gear could not withstand the load and gave way, so that the hull fell to the ground. The aircraft's forward movement caused it to break through the airport fence and tumble onto the lower road before stalling on the beach in Kingston’s outer harbor and the open Caribbean Sea. The aircraft was totaled.
consequences
Of the 148 passengers and 6 crew members on board, 44 were injured, 4 of them seriously.
The airport was closed after the accident, which led to individual flight cancellations. Later the runway was opened with a shortened length because the torn off tail section of the aircraft blocked the runway. Larger aircraft were diverted to Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay for two days .
Investigation of the incident
An investigation involving the US National Transportation Safety Board and the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority was initiated following the accident . American Airlines also sent a delegation to assist with the investigation.
There were reports that some runway lights were not working at the time of the accident. Jamaican officials downplayed the impact of the malfunctioning lights on the accident, pointing out that approaching crews had been informed and that the runway was properly lit at the time of the accident. The equipment of the instrument landing system was checked after the accident during a test flight and no malfunctions were found.
Reports later published indicated that the crew had contacted Jamaican approach control to request a landing using the instrument landing system . This required an approach to runway 12. However, the approach control advised the crew that a tailwind was to be expected when landing in this direction and recommended landing in the opposite direction, i.e. on runway 30. The American Airlines crew repeated theirs Request for a landing on runway 12 and then received a landing permit on this runway, whereby the air traffic controller advised the crew that the runway was wet. A mechanical fault in the aircraft as the reason for the accident was ruled out.
The director of the civil aviation authority of Jamaica, Oscar Derby, found in the week after the accident that the aircraft landed only about in the middle of the 2710 m long runway. The factors examined therefore included tail wind and the wet condition of the runway. This was not provided with notches to divert rainwater, as are common at larger airports. The plane was relatively heavy because there was still enough fuel on board to make the return flight to the United States.
The evaluation of the flight data recorder (FDR) later showed that the aircraft touched down after about 1250 m of the 2710 m long runway. The normal touchdown point would have been between 300 and 500 m after the start of the runway. When the plane reached the end of the runway, it was still traveling at 116 km / h. The tailwind on landing was 26 km / h and was therefore just within the limit of 27 km / h, which is approved for this type of aircraft.
After the accident, it was also revealed that American Airlines' landing procedures were subject to review by the Federal Aviation Administration because the company's aircraft had been involved in three incidents within two weeks; in the other two cases, the wing tips of the aircraft made contact with the ground on landing.
Web links
- Press release of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority of August 31, 2010 (PDF; 41 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Accident description ( English ) Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
- ↑ Aircraft Registration Database Lookup ( English ) Airframes. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
- ↑ AMERICAN AIRLINES STATEMENT REGARDING FLIGHT 331 Release # 1 @ 11:58 (pm) US Central Time ( English ) American Airlines. December 23, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
- ↑ Wreckage Probe Nears End; Jamaica Awaits Details ( English ) Breitbart.com. December 26, 2009. Accessed on October 23, 2011. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ METAR MKJP 230300Z 32008KT 33000 + SHRA BKN014 FEW016CB SCT030 BKN100 21/20 Q1014 RETSRA Wunderground
- ↑ SPECI MKJP 230325Z 32011KT 22000 + SHRA BKN014 FEW016CB SCT030 BKN100 21/19 Q1014 RETSRA Wunderground
- ^ Dozens Injured in Flight 331 Crash in Jamaica. at: abcnews.go.com
- ↑ Scott Friedman: Jamaican Officials Probe AA331 Touchdown Point | NBC Dallas-Fort Worth . Nbcdfw.com. December 30, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
- ↑ RECENT ACCIDENTS / INCIDENTS WORLDWIDE ( English ) Jacdec. Retrieved December 24, 2009.
- ↑ PICTURE: Kingston weather poor at time of American 737 overrun ( English ) Flight Global. December 23, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
- ^ NTSB Sends Team to Assist Government of Jamaica in Aviation Accident ( English ) National Transportation Safety Board. December 23, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
- ↑ Airplane adversities: The plain facts . Jamaica Gleaner News. January 3, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
- ↑ AMR Jet Had to Use Jamaica Runway Lacking Some Approach Lights ( English ) Bloomberg. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
- ↑ " 'Best Christmas' for Pilot of Jet That Crashed in Jamaica ( Memento of the original from October 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . " Associated Press via Fox News . December 26, 2009.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 2, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ AA331 crash probe rules out mechanical failure ( English ) Jamaica Observer. January 7, 2010. Archived from the original on March 16, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
- ↑ American jet landed too far down runway, Jamaican official says ( English ) Dallas Morning News. January 6, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
- ↑ American Airlines Mishaps Spark Scrutiny . CBS News. January 2, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
