Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Near San Juan
Monday, May 23, 1988 18:44 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
PAN AM FLT 217 (AIRBUS A300, N209PA) WAS CLRD BY NEW YORK CENTER OCEANIC CTL AREA (OCA) TO PROCEED SOUTH ON AIRWAY AMBER 300 AT FL 290 OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. AS IT WAS EN ROUTE, AMERICAN FLT 902 DEPARTED SAN JUAN (SJU), PR FOR A NORTHBOUND FLT ON THE SAME AIRWAY UNDER IFR CTL BY SJU COMBINED CENTER & RADAR APCH CTL (CERAP). ON-THE-JOB TRAINING WAS BEING GIVEN TO THE CERAP CTLR. AS THE CTLR'S WORKLOAD WAS GETTING 'BUSY' WITH 'A HVY RUSH HOUR,' HIS SUPVR SCANNED THE BAY TO DETERMINE THE TRAFFIC (BUT DID NOT SEE THE FLT PROGRESS STRIP FOR FLT 217) & TOLD THE TRAINEE TO ASSIGN FLT 902 TO FL 290. THE TRAINEE COORDINATED THIS WITH OCA SINCE IT WAS THE WRONG DRCTN FOR THAT ALT. OCA APPROVED & FLT 902 WAS ASSIGNED FL 290. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE 2 ACFT CONVERGED & PASSED EACH OTHER WITH AN ESTD 300' LATERAL SEPN. THE NEAR COLLISION OCCURRED IN A NON-RADAR INVIRONMENT OVER THE OCEAN ABT 200 MI NORTH OF SAN JUAN. THE OCA CTLR SAID SHE WAS AWARE BOTH FLTS WOULD BE AT THE SAME ALT, BUT APPROVAL WAS BASED ON PREMISE THAT SJU WAS AWARE & WOULD PROVIDE OTR SEPN.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 5/23/1988 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1844 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | NEAR SAN JUAN |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 1988 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1855 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SJU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 370 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 18000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1800 |
| 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) | 13 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 286 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5034 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 25 1988 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 37160 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2002 4:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\ZUZL |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N209PA | N727AA |
| NTSB Number | MIA88IA176A | MIA88IA176B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | None | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AIRBUS INDUSTRIE | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | A-300 | 727 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A300 | 727 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 305 | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 302000 | 172000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 341 | 145 |
| Number of Engines | 2 | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- | -- |
| ELT Installed | No | No |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILMINGTON TRUST COMPANY | AMERICAN AIR LINES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RODNEY SQUARE, NORTH | P.O. BOX 619616 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON | DFW AIRPORT |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19890 | 75261 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | PAN AMERICAN WORLD AIRWAYS | AMERICAN AIRLINES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | 200 PARK AVENUE | P. O. BOX 619616 |
| Operator City | NEW YORK | DFW AIRPORT |
| Operator State | NY | TX |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 10166 | 75261 |
| Operator Code | PAAA | AALA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | JFK | SJU |
| Departure City | NEW YORK CITY | SAN JUAN |
| Departure State | NY | PR |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1629 | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SVCS | PHL |
| Destination City | CRCS,VENEZUELA | PHILADELPHIA |
| Destination State | OF | PA |
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2001 1:02PM | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- | 0 |
| Runway Width | -- | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |