Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
John F. Kennedy Intl Apt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jamaica, New York 11430
Monday, October 28, 1996 22:31 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was inbound to land, when the flight crew observed an unsafe nose gear indication. The crew was unable to confirm that the gear was down, and diverted to Runway 31R at JFK. The airplane landed on the runway, with the nose gear retracted, and an emergency evacuation was performed. Examination of the wreckage revealed the nose landing gear upper lock link was fractured into two pieces. The linkage jammed against the shock strut structure, preventing extension of the strut. According to the airplane manufacturer, the nose landing gear upper lock link failed due to fatigue. It was made from aluminum plating. Originally, all the links were made from forged aluminum. Then, the company used plated aluminum because it weighed less. Although both types of lock links were of the same strength, the aluminum plating fatigued sooner than the forged links. After the accident, the company replaced all aluminum plated upper lock links with forged ones.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the nose landing gear upper lock link.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/28/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2231 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | JAMAICA |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 11430 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | JOHN F. KENNEDY INTL APT |
| 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 | 2255 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 | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 19 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 30 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 90 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2023 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 28 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:25AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N244AA |
| NTSB Number | NYC97LA009 |
| 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 | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | MD-80 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | MD-80 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 49256 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 150500 |
| 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 | 146 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FLEET NATIONAL BANK |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 777 MAIN STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | HARTFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06115 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4333 AMON CARTER BLVD |
| Operator City | FORT WORTH |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 76155 |
| Operator Code | AALA |
| 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/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ORD |
| Departure City | CHICAGO |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2005 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LGA |
| Destination City | FLUSHING |
| Destination State | NY |
| 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 | -- |