Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Seattle-Tacoma Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Seattle, Washington 98168
Saturday, February 19, 2000 21:37 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Before the accident flight, company maintenance personnel performed work on all four of the aircraft's engine thrust reversers. One mechanic working on the thrust reversers went off-shift before closing the number 2 cowl, and asked another mechanic to close the cowl for him. The second mechanic subsequently lowered the number 1 and 2 cowl doors but was unable to secure and lock them. He reported to mechanics on the next shift that all four engine cowls needed to be secured, and annotated this in the shift turnover log. When mechanics from the next shift arrived to close the cowls, they observed the number 1 and 2 cowls closed but did not review the shift turnover log and did not check to ensure the number 1 and 2 cowls were latched. The flight engineer also failed to detect the unlatched cowls on his preflight inspection, despite detailed procedures in the company flight operations manual for preflight inspection of the cowls (including ensuring they are latched.) The flight crew subsequently initiated a takeoff with the number 1 and 2 engine cowls unsecured. The number 1 and 2 cowls departed the aircraft during, and shortly after, takeoff, substantially damaging the aircraft's left wing and left horizontal stabilizer. The flight subsequently returned to the departure airport and landed without further incident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Inadequate inspection of the number 1 and 2 engine cowls by company maintenance personnel and inadequate preflight inspection by the flight engineer, resulting in unsecured cowls separating from the aircraft during takeoff. A factor was unsecured number 1 and 2 engine cowls.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/19/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2137 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SEATTLE |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98168 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | SEATTLE-TACOMA INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SEA |
| 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 | 429 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2156 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SEA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 429 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 868 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 23 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N811CK |
| NTSB Number | SEA00LA046 |
| 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 | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | DC-8-63F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DC-8-63F |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 46147 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 353000 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 4 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 17 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 46087 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KITTY HAWK INTERNATIONAL INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 842 WILLOW RUN AIRPORT |
| Aircraft Owner City | YPSILANTI |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48198 |
| 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 | K4HA |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| 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 | SEA |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2137 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ANC |
| Destination City | ANCHORAGE |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2002 12:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16L |
| Runway Length | 11900 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |