John F. Kennedy Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Jamaica, New York 11430
Sunday, December 18, 1994 14:29 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

DURING LANDING ROLL, THE LEFT MAIN GEAR OUTER CYLINDER SEPARATED. METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION REVEALED A PRE-EXISTING FATIGUE CRACK IN THE SCHRADER VALVE HOLE. THE HOLE, INCLUDING THE FATIGUE REGION, CONTAINED A LAYER OF NICKEL APPLIED DURING OVERHAUL AS A MEANS OF RESTORING THE ORIGINAL TOLERANCES OF THE PART. THE CRACKING INITIATED FROM A 0.009-INCH-DEEP GOUGE OR FILING MARK IN THE NICKEL LAYER. BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE OF THIS AND SIMILAR NEARBY MARKS, THE CORNER FAILED TO COMPLY WITH THE OVERHAUL REQUIREMENT OF A RADIUS PF 0.6 TO 0.9 INCH AT THE FATIGUE INITIATION LOCATION. ALSO, A BEVEL FOUND IN THE NICKEL LAYER AT THIS CORNER, DID NOT COMPLY WITH THE CORNER REQUIREMENT. THE CYLINDER HAD 82,131 HOURS OF TOTAL TIME AND 14,951 CYCLES, AND WAS LAST OVERHAULED AND RETURNED TO SERVICE SEPTEMBER 30, 1988. ALSO, GOUGES, AND FILING MARKS WERE DETERMINED TO BE THE SOURCE OF THE CRACK.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Improper maintenance overhaul which resulted in a fatigue crack.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 12/18/1994
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1429
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City JAMAICA
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 11430
Event Date Year 1994
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport JOHN F. KENNEDY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID JFK
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 13
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1450 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID JFK
Elevation of weather observation facility 13
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 8
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 10
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
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 189
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 5044
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 19 1994 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 640
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2000 12:47PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N53116
NTSB Number NYC95IA043
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BOEING
Aircraft Model 747-131
Aircraft Series Identifier 747-131
Aircraft Serial Number 20321
Certified Max Gross Weight 734000
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 451
Number of Engines 4
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Jul 30 1994 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1613
Airframe Hours 17982
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name TRANS WORLD AIRLINES, INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1 CITY CENTER 515 N 6TH ST
Aircraft Owner City ST LOUIS
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 63101
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code TWAA
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/Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SJU
Departure City SAN JUAN
Departure State PR
Departure Country
Departure Time 705
Departure Time Zone AST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31R
Runway Length 10000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --