Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Standiford Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Louisville, Kentucky 40223
Wednesday, January 31, 1990 14:31 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AFTER LANDING THE FLIGHT CREW NOTED A VIBRATION. LEFT MAIN GEAR TORQUE LINK APEX BOLT WAS FOUND TO HAVE VIBRATED OUT OF THE TORQUE LINK WHICH ALLOWED MAIN GEAR TRUCK TO ROTATE 360 DEGREES DURING LANDING ROLL. THE NUT HAD STRIPPED OFF OF THE BOLT. LABORATORY EXAMINATION REVEALED THAT THE TORQUE LINK ATTACHING PINS HAD EXCESSIVE PLAY. NEW & OLD APEX BOLTS WERE MEASURED. THEY FAILED TO PASS THE MOST STRINGENT QUALITY CONTROL CHECK FOR CORRECT THREAD SIZE. THE SAFETY BOARD BELIEVES THAT THE NUT STRIPPED OFF WHEN THE LOOSE TORQUE LINKS ALLOWED EXCESSIVE VIBRATION. THE UNDERSIZE APEX BOLT THREADS ALLOWED THE NUT TO SHEAR AWAY THE BOLT PIN DESIGNED TO RETAIN THE NUT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE DISABLING OF THE MAIN LANDING GEAR TORQUE LINK WHICH ALLOWED THE TRUCK TO ROTATE FREELY. THE TORQUE LINK WAS DISABLED WHEN EXCESSIVE VIBRATION WAS GENERATED BY EXCESSIVE PLAY OF THE TORQUE LINK PINS IN THEIR BUSHINGS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 1/31/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1431 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | LOUISVILLE |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 40223 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | STANDIFORD FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SDF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 496 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1450 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SDF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 496 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 71 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5015 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 31 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1540 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 42154 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 4:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8978E |
| NTSB Number | ATL90IA060 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | DOUGLAS |
| Aircraft Model | DC-9-31 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DC-9-31 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 47327 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 108000 |
| 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 | 100 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 22 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 58041 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UNKNOWN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | EASTERN AIR LINES, INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT |
| Operator City | MIAMI |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33148 |
| Operator Code | EALA |
| 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 Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MKE |
| Departure City | MILWAUKEE |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1218 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SDF |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| 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 | 29 |
| Runway Length | 7249 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |