Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dallas/Ft. Worth Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dallas/Ft Worth, Texas 75261
Wednesday, August 31, 1988 9:01 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE FLIGHTCREW REPORTED THAT THE TAKEOFF ROLL APPEARED TO BE NORMAL IN ALL RESPECTS, WITH NO WARNING LIGHTS, AUDIBLE WARNINGS, OR UNUSUAL ENGINE INSTRUMENT CONDITIONS. THE CAPTAIN STATED THAT THE ROTATION WAS INITIALLY NORMAL, BUT AS THE MAIN GEAR WHEELS LEFT THE GROUND HE HEARD 'TWO EXPLOSIONS.' HE SAID IT FELT AS THOUGH THE AIRPLANE WAS EXPERIENCING 'REVERSE THRUST.' THE CAPTAIN STATED THAT THE AIRPLANE BEGAN TO 'ROLL VIOLENTLY.' THE AIRPLANE STRUCK THE INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM (ILS) LOCALIZER ANTENNA ARRAY APPROXIMATELY 1,000 FEET BEYOND THE END OF RUNWAY 18L, AND CAME TO REST ABOUT 3,200 FEET BEYOND THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY. INVESTIGATION DETERMINED THAT THE WING FLAPS AND SLATS WERE NOT PROPERLY CONFIGURED PRIOR TO THE ATTEMPTED TAKEOFF. (FOR FURTHER INFORMATION - SEE NTSB/AAR-89/04.)
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
(1) THE CAPTAIN AND FIRST OFFICER'S INADEQUATE COCKPIT DISCIPLINE WHICH RESULTED IN THE FLIGHTCREW'S ATTEMPT TO TAKEOFF WITHOUT THE WING FLAPS AND SLATS PROPERLY CONFIGURED; AND (2) THE FAILURE OF THE TAKEOFF CONFIGURATION WARNING SYSTEM TO ALERT THE CREW THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT PROPERLY CONFIGURED FOR THE TAKEOFF. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS DELTA'S SLOW IMPLEMENTATION OF NECESSARY MODIFICATIONS TO ITS OPERATING PROCEDURES, MANUAL'S, CHECKLISTS, TRAINING, AND CREW CHECKING PROGRAMS WHICH WERE NECESSITATED BY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE AIRLINE FOLLOWING RAPID GROWTH AND MERGER. ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE LACK OF SUFFICIENTLY AGGRESSIVE ACTION BY THE FAA TO HAVE KNOWN DEFICIENCIES CORRECTED BY DELTA AND THE LACK OF SUFFICIENT ACCOUNTABILITY WITHIN THE FAA'S AIR CARRIER INSPECTION PROCESS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/31/1988 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 901 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | DALLAS/FT WORTH |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75261 |
| Event Date Year | 1988 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | DALLAS/FT. WORTH INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DFW |
| 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 | 600 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 14 |
| Injury Total Minor | 50 |
| Injury Total None | 18 |
| Injury Total Serious | 26 |
| Injury Total All | 90 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 895 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 31 1988 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 916 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 36432 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N473DA |
| NTSB Number | DCA88MA072 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | 727-232 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 727-232 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20705 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 184200 |
| 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 | 156 |
| Number of Engines | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 11 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 166 |
| Airframe Hours | 43023 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DELTA AIRLINES, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ATLANTA HARTSFIELD INT'L ARPT |
| Aircraft Owner City | ATLANTA |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30320 |
| 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 | DALA |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 859 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SLC |
| Destination City | SALT LAKE CITY |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| 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 | 18L |
| Runway Length | 11387 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |