Lambert-St. Louis Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

St. Louis, Missouri 63145
Thursday, September 2, 1993 12:03 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

AS THE CAPTAIN WAS TURNING THE AIRPLANE OFF THE RUNWAY FOLLOWING ITS LANDING ROLL HE SAID IT WAS '...EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO TURN.' THE CAPTAIN SAID THE AIRPLANE TURNED TO A 45 DEGREE ANGLE TO THE RUNWAY AND WOULD GO NO FURTHER. THE STEERING SYSTEM FAILED AND THE CAPTAIN ATTEMPTED TO STOP THE AIRPLANE ON THE TAXIWAY USING BRAKES AND REVERSE THRUST. THE AIRPLANE WOULD NOT STOP AND ROLLED OFF ONTO THE GRASS AREA ADJACENT TO THE TAXIWAY. EXAMINATION OF THE BRAKE SYSTEM FOUND THE HYDRAULIC SYSTEM POWER TRANSFER UNIT'S (PTU) HOUSING WAS CRACKED AROUND ITS ENTIRE CIRCUMFERENCE. THE PTU ON THE INCIDENT AIRPLANE WAS AN EARLY STYLE UNIT ACCORDING TO THE MANUFACTURER'S SERVICE BULLETIN. THE SERVICE BULLETIN ADVISED OWNERS OF THE AIRPLANE TO REPLACE THE ORIGINAL ALUMINUM HOUSING WITH A CAST IRON TYPE. EXAMINATION OF THE PTU'S HOUSING FRACTURE SURFACES REVEALED SHRINKAGE CAVITIES, AND LARGE SILICON INCLUSIONS.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

a fatigue failure of the power transfer unit caused by a material defect which resulted in a total hydraulic system failure.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 9/2/1993
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1203
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City ST. LOUIS
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 63145
Event Date Year 1993
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LAMBERT-ST. LOUIS INT'L
Event Location Nearest Airport ID STL
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 605
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1251 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID STL
Elevation of weather observation facility 605
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Not Reported
Lowest Ceiling Height 4000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3300
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) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
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 108
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 5047
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 2 1993 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1730
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 2 2002 9:04AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\ZUZL
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N918TW
NTSB Number CHI93IA352
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name MCDONNELL DOUGLAS
Aircraft Model DC-9-82
Aircraft Series Identifier DC-9-82
Aircraft Serial Number 49367
Certified Max Gross Weight 140000
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 132
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name TWA, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 100 S. BEDFORD ROAD
Aircraft Owner City MT. KISCO
Aircraft Owner State NY
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 10549
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name TWA, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 100 S. BEDFORD ROAD
Operator City MT. KISCO
Operator State NY
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 10549
Operator Code TWAA
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 LGA
Departure City NEW YORK
Departure State NY
Departure Country
Departure Time 1029
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code STL
Destination City
Destination State MO
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
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 30R
Runway Length 11019
Runway Width 200
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --