Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Albuquerque Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87117
Monday, January 23, 1995 21:15 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THIS AIRCRAFT WAS INVOLVED IN FOUR MOMENTARY UNCOMMANDED ROLLS TO THE RIGHT DURING ROTATION. IN EACH INSTANCE, THE PILOT WAS ABLE TO QUICKLY CORRECT THE SITUATION AND CONTINUE THE FLIGHT WITHOUT FURTHER PROBLEMS. NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS BY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL TO IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM AND TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE WERE UNSUCCESSFUL. AFTER THE FOURTH INCIDENT, THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR STRUT WAS FOUND TO HAVE BEEN OVERSERVICED WITH NITROGEN. THIS ADDITIONAL PRESSURE TO THE STRUT WOULD SUDDENLY LIFT THE LEFT WING DURING ROTATION WHEN THE WEIGHT OF THE AIRCRAFT ON THE LANDING GEAR IS REDUCED, THUS GIVING THE PILOTS A ROLLING SENSATION TO THE RIGHT. THE STRUT WAS RESERVICED WITH OIL AND NITROGEN AND THE AIRCRAFT HAS BEEN RETURNED TO SERVICE WITH NO MORE OCCURRENCES. THE UPPER WING SURFACE PANEL SUPPORT ROD BROKE DUE TO HIGH-CYCLE FATIGUE AND WAS NOT CONSIDERED A FACTOR IN THESE INSTANCES.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
maintenance personnel inadvertently overservicing the left main landing gear strut with nitrogen that, during rotation with the aircraft weight on the strut reduced, gave the pilots a rolling sensation to the right.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 1/23/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2115 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87117 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ALBUQUERQUE INT'L AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ABQ |
| 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 | 5352 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2150 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 14000 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 37 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5000 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 26 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 3:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N155AW |
| NTSB Number | LAX95IA086 |
| 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 | 737-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 737-300 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 23777 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 125000 |
| 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 | 149 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 23 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 25231 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMERICA WEST AIRLINES, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4000 E. SKY HARBOR BLVD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | PHOENIX |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85034 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | AMERICA WEST AIRLINES, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4000 E. SKY HARBOR BLVD. |
| Operator City | PHOENIX |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 85034 |
| Operator Code | AWXA |
| 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 | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2115 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LAS |
| Destination City | LAS VEGAS |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| 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 | 26 |
| Runway Length | 13373 |
| Runway Width | 300 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |