Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Nashville International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nashville, Tennessee 37214
Thursday, February 1, 1996 15:05 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During landing, the right main landing gear shock strut cylinder and piston failed which caused the axle, wheels, and tires to separate. Metallurgical examination showed that the fracture surfaces had been damaged after separation. Two areas on the cylinder fracture face were not at an angle to suggest overstress separation, and ratchet marks were present which usually separate initiation sights on offset fracture planes. The piston fracture surfaces had features typical of overstress separation. The right main landing torque links had failed during landing 312 flight hours before this accident. The torque links, shimmy damper, and piston were replaced at that time; the cylinder was not replaced.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the right main landing gear shock strut cylinder due to preexisting fractures. Contributing to the accident was: the failure of the operator to inspect the shock strut cylinder for fractures following a previous failure of the torque links, and the absence of specific directives and procedures from the aircraft manufacturer to inspect or replace the shock strut cylinder following torque link failure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/1/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1505 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | NASHVILLE |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37214 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | NASHVILLE INTERNATIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BNA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 130 |
| Airport Elevation | 599 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1450 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 13 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BNA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 599 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | -2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1 |
| 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 | 80 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1119 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 1 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1513 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:50AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N903VJ |
| NTSB Number | ATL96FA043 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | DOUGLAS |
| Aircraft Model | DC-9-32 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DC9-32 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 47261 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 108000 |
| 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 | 118 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 3078 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VALUJET INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1800 PHEONIX BLVD SUITE 126 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ATLANTA |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30349 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | VJ6A |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ATL |
| Departure City | ATLANTA |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1420 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | BNA |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2001 1:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 11029 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |