Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St Johns/V.C Bird Interna Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St John Antigua
Thursday, February 6, 1997 14:40 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The scheduled flight from San Juan to the Antigua (ANU) area was uneventful. During the VOR 07 approach, at about 2,500 feet AGL, the flight maneuvered to avoid TCAS traffic. The runway was in sight. The captain was flying the transport category airplane on final approach with 40 degrees of flaps. At 1,000 feet, on the final approach to landing, the first officer made the company procedural 1,000 foot verbal callout and the captain brought the power above idle. The crew stated that the airplane was slightly high at 1,000 feet and by 500 feet they were 'in the slot' with airspeed about 20 knots above the reference speed of 128 knots and decreasing. Flight recorder data indicated that during the final approach segment from about an altitude of 500 feet to the ground, the airspeed decreased from 143 knots to 135, the pitch attitude increased from 1/2-degree nose up to 9 degrees nose up, the descent rate decreased from 1,700 feet per minute (fpm) to 1,000 fpm, and the flight path angle decreased from 5.8 degrees to 2.7 degrees. The airplane contacted the runway on the main landing gear and bounced, at which time the airplane pitched nose up to about 11 degrees. The tail of the airplane subsequently struck the runway and was substantially damaged. No anomalies with the airplane systems or engines were reported during the investigation. The airline's aircraft operating manual described a 'stabilized approach concept,' but the airline did not provide specific procedures regarding crew actions, or require a go-around, if an approach becomes unstabilized.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The captain failed to establish and maintain a stabilized approach (or perform a go-around), and applied excessive pitch rotation during the subsequent recovery from a bounced landing, resulting in a tail strike. A factor contributing to the accident was the operator's inadequate procedures to address corrective actions if an approach becomes unstabilized.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/6/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1440 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | ST JOHN ANTIGUA |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | ST JOHNS/V.C BIRD INTERNA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TAPA |
| 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 | 62 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1440 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ANU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 62 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 170 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1939 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 7 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 4 2002 11:41AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N41063 |
| NTSB Number | DCA97LA027 |
| 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 | Airbus Industrie |
| Aircraft Model | A-300-600R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A300-600R |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 506 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 375800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/Foreign Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 267 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 5 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 312 |
| Airframe Hours | 22804 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILMINGTON TRUST |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1100 NORTH MARKET ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19890 |
| 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 | International |
| 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 | SJU |
| Departure City | SAN JUAN |
| Departure State | PR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1357 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ANU |
| Destination City | ST. JOHNS |
| Destination State | OF |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2001 1:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 7 |
| Runway Length | 9003 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |