Honolulu International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Honolulu, Hawaii 96819
Saturday, June 21, 1997 12:22 HDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During an autopilot autoland approach and landing, the captain disconnected the autopilot at touchdown. Manual flight control inputs were not sufficient to maintain runway heading and prevent pitch up upon spoiler deployment. Reverse thrust was selected and then go-around thrust was applied. During the go-around, 3 engine thrust was not symmetrical. The airplane was overrotated and a tail strike occurred.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to apply adequate manual control inputs following his decision to disconnect the autopilot during the autoland operation, resulting in a subsequent loss of directional control. Also causal and contributing to the tail strike was the pilot's improper decision to initiate a go-around during reverse thrust engine operation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/21/1997
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1222
Event Time Zone Hawaii Daylight Time
Event City HONOLULU
Event State HAWAII
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96819
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport HONOLULU INTERNATIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KHNL
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 Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1250 Hawaii Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID HNL
Elevation of weather observation facility 50
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation HDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -2
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 50
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
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 308
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 22736
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 30 2007 3:42PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number EICDK
NTSB Number DCA97MA053
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 129: Foreign
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name McDonnell Douglas
Aircraft Model MD-11
Aircraft Series Identifier MD-11
Aircraft Serial Number 48501
Certified Max Gross Weight 602500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class Foreign Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 295
Number of Engines 3
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 19103
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AIRPLANES FUNDING LTD.
Aircraft Owner Street Address GPA HOUSE
Aircraft Owner City SHANNON
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country EI
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name GARUDA INDONESIAN AIRWAYS PT
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address SOEKAMMO-HATTA AIRPT BOX 1004
Operator City JAKARTA
Operator State --
Operator Country ID
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code WGFF
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 WRRR
Departure City JAKARTA
Departure State --
Departure Country --
Departure Time 2355
Departure Time Zone HDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code KHNL
Destination City HONOLULU
Destination State HI
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 6 2002 3:09PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\HAMG
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 8L
Runway Length 12357
Runway Width 200
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --