Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Orlando International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Orlando, Florida 32827
Monday, December 30, 1996 22:26 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
As the first officer began the takeoff roll the aircraft began to drift to the left. Attempts to correct the drift by application of full right nose wheel steering through the rudder pedals was unsuccessful. The captain took control of the aircraft and aborted the takeoff. As engine power was reduced the aircraft turned sharply to the right and went off the right side of the runway where it came to rest on soft terrain. The aircraft center of gravity was near the aft limit. After the incident the nose landing gear was found to be over serviced and extended 2.35 inches higher than normal. DFDR data showed that as engine power was added for takeoff the nose of the aircraft pitched up extending the nose gear further. This allowed the centering cam to restrict nose gear steering to +/- 4 degrees. As the captain aborted the takeoff the nose pitched down and normal nose steering returned at which time the aircraft responded to the full right rudder input. DFDR and CVR data also show that as the captain aborted the takeoff he did not fully close throttles 1 and 2 and the asymmetric thrust contributed to the uncontrolled right turn.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the captain to center the rudder and close all engine throttles during an aborted takeoff resulting in an uncontrolled turn to the right due to nose wheel steering through the rudder pedals and asymmetric engine thrust. A factor in the incident was failure of operator maintenance personnel to properly service the nose landing gear strut resulting in an over extended strut and the flight crews loss of directional control to the left during takeoff requiring them to abort the takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/30/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2226 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | ORLANDO |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32827 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MCO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 96 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2235 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 96 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 400 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5045 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 30 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2245 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N804AX |
| NTSB Number | MIA97IA050 |
| 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 | Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | DC8-62 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DC8-62 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45987 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 338000 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 4 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 29 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 5539 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ABX AIR, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 145 HUNTER DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45177 |
| 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 | ABXA |
| 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 | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MCO |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2226 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ILN |
| Destination City | WILMINGTON |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| 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 | 18R |
| Runway Length | 12004 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |