Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tucson Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tucson, Arizona 85706
Saturday, December 30, 1989 19:01 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DURING APPROACH, A FIRE ERUPTED IN THE WHEEL WELL OF THE 22-YR OLD AIRPLANE. THE FIRE BURNED THRU THE HYDRAULIC LINES RENDERING THE A, B, & STANDBY HYD SYSTEMS INOP. THE CREW LANDED THE AIRPLANE USING THE EMERGENCY MANUAL REVERSION FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM. HOWEVER, THE AIRPLANE WAS UNABLE TO STOP ON THE RUNWAY BECAUSE OF THE PREVIOUS FAILURES OF THE CHECK VALVES IN THE BACKUP HYD ACCUMULATOR PRESSURE SYSTEMS FOR THE #2 THRUST REVERSER AND THE INBOARD PAIR OF WHEEL BRAKES. DURING THE 2 MIN ROLLOUT, THE AIRPLANE TRAVERSED 14,000 FT, OVERRAN THE RWY END, AND COLLIDED WITH A CONCRETE STRUCTURE WHICH COLLAPSED THE NOSE GEAR. THE AIRPLANE HAD RECENTLY UNDERGONE A 'C' CHECK DURING WHICH THE OPERATOR'S MECHANICS FAILED TO OBSERVE & REPAIR AN ELECTRIC WIRE WHICH HAD BEEN CHAFING AGAINST A HYD LINE. ON THE ACCIDENT FLT THE ENERGIZED WIRE ARCED, PUNCTURED THE LINE, & IGNITED THE ESCAPING HYD FLUID. THE HYD CHECK VALVES HAD FAILED EARLIER DUE TO MECHANICAL WEAR.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE OPERATOR'S MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL TO DETECT AN ELECTRICAL WIRE WHICH HAD CHAFED AGAINST A HYDRAULIC LINE AND WHICH EVENTUALLY ARCED CAUSING A LEAK IN THE HYDRAULIC LINE AND SUBSEQUENT FIRE AND HYDRAULIC SYSTEM FAILURE. IN ADDITION, PREVIOUS WEAR OF CHECK VALVES IN THE BACKUP HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS PREVENTED THE AIRPLANE FROM STOPPING ON THE RUNWAY. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS THE AIRPLANE MANUFACTURER'S INADEQUATE GUIDANCE FOR MAINTAINING THE HYDRAULIC COMPONENTS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/30/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1901 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | TUCSON |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85706 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TUCSON INT'L |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TUS |
| 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 | 2641 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 1910 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2641 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | 10 |
| Injury Total None | 123 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 10 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2381 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 30 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 43231 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N198AW |
| NTSB Number | LAX90FA061 |
| 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 | Ground and In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | 737-204 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 737-204 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 19710 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 109000 |
| 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 | 122 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 62466 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AVIATION SALES COMPANY, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6905 NW 25TH STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | MIAMI |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33122 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | AMERICA WEST AIRLINES, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4000 E. SKY HARBOR BLVD. |
| Operator City | PHOENIX |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 85034 |
| Operator Code | AWAX |
| 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 | PHX |
| Departure City | PHOENIX |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1845 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TUS |
| Destination City | TUCSON |
| Destination State | AZ |
| 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 | 29R |
| Runway Length | 10994 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |