Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New York City, New York 20121
Thursday, March 30, 2000 20:25 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During climb out at night over water, the airplane was straight and level and heading towards an intersection. The first officer was hand flying the airplane and the auto-pilot was not engaged. While climbing through 6,500 feet, the airplane rolled to the right and reached a maximum of 65.5 degrees. The first officer used left aileron, followed by left rudder input and returned to level flight. The crew declared an emergency, dumped 20,000 pounds of fuel and landed uneventfully at the departure airport. The captain reported there were no traffic collision avoidance system alerts or engine indication and crew alerting system warnings. The captain reported there was a thin deck of clouds at 6,500 feet, and it was a dark night with no moon. The international relief pilot stated there was no discernable horizon, and the first officer stated there was no horizon, stars, or moon, and all he saw was darkness. An examination of the airplane's systems revealed there were no mechanical or computer related discrepancies. The digital flight data recorder data revealed the rolls to the right were initiated by control wheel input.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The first officer's failure to maintain control of the airplane during climb out over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation. Factors in the incident were the cloud layer and dark night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 3/30/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2025 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | NEW YORK CITY |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20121 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2051 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JFK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 42 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 22 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 225 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 684 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 30 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2040 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 10 2001 4:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N182DN |
| NTSB Number | IAD00IA032 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 767-332 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 767-332 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25987 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 407000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 235 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 29 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5514 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILMINGTON TRUST COMPANY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19890 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | DELTA AIRLINES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | ATLANTA |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 30320 |
| Operator Code | DALA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | JFK |
| Departure City | NEW YORK |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2010 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FRA |
| Destination City | FRANKFURT |
| Destination State | GE |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 10 2001 4:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |