National Transportation Safety Board Washington D.C 20594 Aircraft Accident Report


NTSB 20594 Aircraft Accident Report
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Abstract
Aircraft accidents are very costly. The National Transportation Safety Board investigates and the causes of accidents involving planes and uses the report to deter occurrences accidents in the future. An American airline plane Flight 1420 crashed after overrunning the end of runway 4R while landing in Little Rock city. The flight had left Dallas Airport at 2240, on 1 June 1999 for Little Rock, where it touch down at 2350. This study is concerned with the accident involving an American flight 1420, (McDonnell Douglas MD-82). The aircraft crashed after overrunning runway 4R while landing at Little Rock Airport. This study summarizes the history of the flight, information the injuries involved to people and aircraft damage, Post-accident information and information before the accident. This study also analyses the probable causes of the crash. It concludes the NTSB report on the findings from the analysis and suggests the probable causes of the accident.

1. Information
1.1 History of the Flight
An American airline plane Flight 1420 crashed after overrunning the end of runway 4R while landing in Little Rock city. The flight had left Dallas Airport at 2240, on 1 June 1999 for Little Rock, where it touch down at 2350. The aircraft struck tubes extending on outside edge of ILS (Instrument Landing System) towards the end of the runway. There were ten fatalities in the accident including the aircraft captain, 105 sustained serious injuries while only 24 passengers survived the crash without injuries.

The impact and post-crash fire destroyed the plane.
According to the American Airlines records, Flight 1420 was the third in the last leg of 3-sequence flight crew. Flight 1420 was scheduled to leave Dallas for Little Rock at 2028 and land in Little Rock at 2141. However, before Dallas arrival, flight crews received a message reporting a delayed departure of 2100 for the trip. The team also received the paperwork for the journey, which entailed weather advisory for thunderstorm along the flight route. Controllers also reported torrential rains in Little Rock airport, which further reduced the visibility to one mile (National Transportation Safety Board, 2001). The accident occurred at the end of runway 4R when visibility was low and in the hours of darkness.
1.2 Injuries and Damages
The plane had 145 people, which consisted of 139 passengers, two members of the flight crew and four members of the cabin crew. From the accident 11 people died, while 45 survived with severe injuries. Sixty-five people sustained minor injuries, and twenty-four survived without injuries.
The table below summarizes the injuries and fatalities from the accident
Flight Crew Cabin Crew Passengers Total
Fatalities 1 0 10 11
Serious injuries 1 3 41 45
Minor injuries 0 1 64 65
Not injured 0 0 24 24
Totals 2 4 139 145
Table summarizing the fatalities and injury situation from the accident (National Transportation Safety Board, 2001)
Damages
The accident resulted in massive loss of life and assets worth millions. American Airlines report that the total losses amounted to 10.7 million USD. The aircraft also damaged tubes in the runway, the security fence and part of the chain link. The crash also destroyed an average of 250FT of runway 22L lighting system and the walkway. The damage of the accident to the airport was approximated at 325,000 USD.
1.3 Meteorological Information
The weather conditions were not favorable during landing at Little Rock airport. Winds forecasted 200 degrees at speed between 12 knots and 20 knots. Visibility was beyond six miles, and scattered clouds were at 2500 FT and 6000 FT ceiling. However, the weather patterns shifted between 0400Z and 0600Z; winds varied between 25 knots and 40 knots. Visibility dropped to 1 mile while the upper limit overcast at 1500 feet. Besides, there were heavy rains and thunderstorms. Lightning strikes could be detected within 20 miles of the airport (National Transportation Safety Board, 2001).
1.4 Communication
Throughout the flight, communications were effective. There were no problems experienced regarding communication between flight 1420 crew and the control team. The communication devices were also efficient.
1.5 Fire
There was an explosion which was followed by raging fire after the impact. After the impact sequence, fuel fed fired emerged between the after fuselage section and the center. As the fire spread the interior of the aft fuselage region, it consumed the entire part of the aft fuselage. Firefighters arrived on the scene of the accident at 0008 to provide help.
2.0 Analysis
Flight 1420 Captain was qualified for the job. He attained the required certification by the Federal authorities and the company. Furthermore, no evidence pointed to the pilots’ medical condition that could have been a liability to the performance of the crew and likely to cause an accident. The aircraft involved in the crash was also approved under Federal requirements (Wilke, Majumdar, & Ochieng, 2012). Furthermore, the aircraft was properly equipped and observed the required maintenance. Moreover, there was no irregularity with the engine and the plane structure.
The controller at the airport had no other traffic to regulate; therefore, he had all the attention on flight 1420. The controller also responded very well and promptly to the crew inquiry. There are no evidence that connected accident and the capacity of the controller and the accident.
3.0 Conclusions
3.1 Findings
The captain was competent and was not the cause of the crash. The aircraft was also efficient and had no failures that could have contributed to the accident. The crew failed to recognize that their approach to runway 4R should have discontinued because the maximum crosswind had been exceeded (Cheng & Jia, 2014). The flight crew failed to prepare adequately for the approach and the rapid adverse weather conditions.

3.2 Probable cause
NTSB concludes that the accident was probably caused by the flight crew’s failure to stop the approach when a negative thunder and other aviation hazards had engulfed the airport (NTSB, 2009). According to the NTSB report, the contributory accident factors include; the crews’ impaired performance and the stress connected to the urge to land, the persistence to approach despite the adverse wind effects and the employment of reverse thrust, which was greater than the ratio of the engine pressure after landing.
References
Cheng, W. & Jia, X. (2014). Exploring an Alternative Method of Hazardous Location Identification: Using Accident Count and Accident Reduction Potential Jointly. Journal Of Transportation Safety & Security, 7(1), 40-55.
National Transportation Safety Board,. (2001). Runway Overrun During Landing, American Airlines Flight 1420, McDonnell Douglas MD-82, N215AA, Little Rock, Arkansas, June 1, 1999 (1st ed., pp. 1-125). Washington, DC.: Aircraft Accident Report.
NTSB,. (2009). The National Transportation Safety Board safety recommendations. Aircraft Engineering And Aerospace Technology, 81(1).
Wilke, S., Majumdar, A., & Ochieng, W. (2012). Holistic Approach to Airport Surface Safety. Transportation Research Record: Journal Of The Transportation Research Board, 2300, 1-12.