Washington National Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Washington, District Of Columbia 20001
Tuesady, February 20, 1996 15:12 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilots reported that as they neared the destination airport, ATC requested that they keep their airspeed up during the approach. The pilots obtained the current ATIS information, which noted an 'overriding tailwind component' on final approach for runway 36. The surface winds were reported to be from 040 degrees at 7 knots. The captain indicated that he began to slow the airplane for landing during the descent, about 11 miles south of the airport. ATC personnel in the tower indicated that the airplane was fast on the approach, and it touched down slightly farther down the runway than other airplanes that landed that day. They also indicated that the thrust reversers deployed farther down the runway than usual. FDR data indicated that the airplane touched down at about 180 knots indicated airspeed. The FDR data also showed that during the previous landing (made by another aircrew), the airplane touched down at about 140 knots. Subsequently, the airplane ran off the departure end of the runway and stopped about 250 feet onto the overrun area where it encountered mud. Postaccident examination revealed that the two inboard main landing gear tires had blown out during the landing. During a test of the anti-skid system, the channel for the inboard brakes did not function properly.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

excessive airspeed was maintained by the captain during the approach/landing phase of the flight, which resulted in an overrun and an encounter with soft/wet terrain. Factors relating to the incident were: the pilot's failure to attain the proper touchdown point, the wet runway condition, and partial failure of the anti-skid brake system.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 2/20/1996
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1512
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City WASHINGTON
Event State DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 20001
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 WASHINGTON NATIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DCA
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 16
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 700
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 400
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 3
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 40
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
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 Light
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 79
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 5016
NTSB Notification Source
NTSB Notification Date Feb 20 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1530
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 9:51AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N33202
NTSB Number IAD96IA044
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 737-130
Aircraft Series Identifier 737-130
Aircraft Serial Number 19019
Certified Max Gross Weight 109000
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 95
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Feb 15 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 38
Airframe Hours 1118
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name CONTINENTAL AIRLINES
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2929 ALLEN PARKWAY SUITE 1900
Aircraft Owner City HOUSTON
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77019
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 CALA
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 GSO
Departure City GREENSBORO
Departure State NC
Departure Country
Departure Time 1432
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code DCA
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 36
Runway Length 6869
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --