Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Norfolk, Virginia 23501
Thursday, August 17, 2000 15:10 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During decent for landing, the flight crew experienced a temporary inadvertent deployment of the left engine thrust reverser. The flight crew declared an emergency and diverted to a nearby airport, where the airplane landed without further incident. Examination of the thrust reverser control system revealed that if thrust lever was moved aggressively to the aft stop, the left engine's thrust reverser switch could actuate. Additionally, faults were observed in left main landing gear Ground/Flight (G/F) switch, and the left engine thrust reverser deploy switch. After the left main landing gear G/F switch and the thrust lever switchbox were replaced, the airplane's thrust reverser system tested "ok."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the airplane's ground/flight switch and a malfunction of the thrust reverser deploy switch, which resulted in an in-flight thrust reverser deployment.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 8/17/2000
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1510
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City NORFOLK
Event State VIRGINIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 23501
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1551 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID ORF
Elevation of weather observation facility 26
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
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) 79
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 64
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 60
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 58
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11223
NTSB Notification Source FAA EROC
NTSB Notification Date Aug 17 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1845
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 18 2002 11:28AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\GIUV
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N860US
NTSB Number NYC00IA231
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 Fokker
Aircraft Model F-100
Aircraft Series Identifier F-100
Aircraft Serial Number 11295
Certified Max Gross Weight 98500
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 103
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Aug 21 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 19
Airframe Hours 24925
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name US AIRWAYS INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2345 CRYSTAL DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City ARLINGTON
Aircraft Owner State VA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 22227
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 USAA
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 FLUSHING
Departure State NY
Departure Country
Departure Time 1410
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code RIC
Destination City RICHMOND
Destination State VA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 1 2001 4:45AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --