Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Baltimore, Maryland 21240
Saturday, December 5, 1987 13:45 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

TWA FLT 388 (DC-9, N924L) WAS IN CLOUDS CLIMBING TO 7000' WHEN BALTIMORE (BWI) TRACON ADZD THAT AN ACFT (PIPER PA-28R) WAS STRAIGHT AHEAD AT 3 MI DSCNDG FM 6700'. FLT 388 HAD PASSED 6000' & THE CAPT REQUESTED A TRAFFIC AVOIDANCE VECTOR. THE TRACON CTLR INSTRUCTED FLT 388 TO LVL AT 6000' & TURN LEFT TO 270 DEGS, BUT BY THAT TIME, FLT 388 WAS AT 6400'. AS FLT 388 WAS TURNING LEFT, IT BROKE OUT OF CLOUD TOPS & THE AIRCREW SAW THE PIPER PA-28 AT THEIR ONE O'CLOCK POSITION. THE TWA CREW TOOK EVASIVE ACTION. THE TWA CAPT SAID THE PIPER PA-28 PASSED APRX 500' TO 1000' LATERALLY WITH NO VERTICALSEPARATION. THE PIPER PILOT SAID HE SAW FLT 388 AS IT CAME OUT OF THE CLOUD TOP IN A LEFT TURN. HE ESTIMATED THAT FLT 388 PASSED WITH APRX 3/4 MI SEPARATION. THE PIPER WAS VFR & FLT 388 WAS IFR & FLYING IN THE BWI ARSA. THE PLTS OF BOTH ACFT WERE IN CTC WITH BWI TRACON, BUT THEY WERE ON DIFFERENT RADIO FREQS & WERE BEING HANDLED BY DIFFERENT CTLRS. FLT 388 WAS BEING HANDLED BY A TRAINEE CTLR.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 12/5/1987
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1345
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City BALTIMORE
Event State MARYLAND
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 21240
Event Date Year 1987
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BWI
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1300 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID BWI
Elevation of weather observation facility 146
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3000
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 18
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 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 7
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 5086
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 6 1987 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 830
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 37456
Date of most recent change to record Apr 9 2001 10:27AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number N924L N9418N
NTSB Number BFO88IA012A BFO88IA012B
Missing Aircraft Indicator N N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR None
Flight plan Was Activated? -- --
Damage None None
Aircraft Fire None None
Aircraft Explosion None None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name MCDONNELL DOUGLAS PIPER
Aircraft Model DC-9-32 PA-28R
Aircraft Series Identifier DC-9-32 PA-28R
Aircraft Serial Number 47324 28R-35130
Certified Max Gross Weight 111000 2750
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 127 4
Number of Engines 2 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown Unknown
Date of Last Inspection -- --
Airframe hours since last inspection -- --
Airframe Hours -- --
ELT Installed No Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown Unknown
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name 1ST SECURITY BANK OF UTAH JOSEPH D. LINEHAN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 79 MAIN ST. 9111 FALLS RUN RD
Aircraft Owner City SALT LAKE CITY MCCLEAN
Aircraft Owner State VA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 22102
Operator is an individual? -- --
Operator Name TWA RICHARD DREWYER, MD
Operator Same as Owner? No No
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No No
Operator Street Address 605 THIRD AVE 4426 COBALT DRIVE
Operator City NEW YORK HARWOOD
Operator State NY MD
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 10158 20776
Operator Code TWAA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder None
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 --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown Personal
Second Pilot on Board Yes No
Departure Point Same as Event No No
Departure Airport Code BWI LNS
Departure City BALTIMORE LANCASTER
Departure State MD PA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1340 1300
Departure Time Zone EST EST
Destination Same as Local Flt -- --
Destination Airport Code HAR CGS
Destination City HARRISBURG COLLEGE PARK
Destination State PA MD
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Climb Descent
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM Jan 2 2001 10:36AM
User who most recently changed record dbo dbo
Since inspection or accident -- --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0 0
Runway Length -- --
Runway Width -- --
Sight Seeing flight No No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --