Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Houston Intercontinental Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Houston, Texas 77001
Thursday, December 3, 1987 12:34 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DURING THE APPROACH TO LANDING THE NUMBER SIX LEADING EDGE SLAT ASSEMBLY FAILED. THE INBOARD SECTION OF THE SLAT HUNG DOWN AND BENT AFT. THE PILOT LANDED THE ACFT WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. METALLURGICAL ANALYSIS OF COMPONENTS REVEALED THAT A SLAT TRACK ROLLER BEARING CONTAINED EVIDENCE OF CORROSION AND SPALLING. ADDITIONALLY, THE SLAT TRACK BEARING BOLT THAT HAD BEEN INSTALLED THROUGH THE ABOVE MENTIONED BEARING HAD HEAVY CIRCUMFERENTIAL GOUGES CONTAINED IN THE SURFACE OF A CROSS-DRILLED HOLE AT THE AREAS OF FATIGUE INITIATION. THERE WAS ALSO EVIDENCE OF TEARING, TYPICAL OF DAMAGE PRODUCED DURING DRILLING WITH A DULL DRILL BIT. THE AIRPLANE HAD COMPLETED A MAJOR STRUCTURAL MAINTENANCE CHECK 48 FLIGHT HOURS AND 28 CYCLES PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
IMPROPER DRILLING OF THE CROSS HOLE IN THE SLAT TRACK BEARING BOLT, WHICH LED TO ITS FAILURE FROM FATIGUE CRACKING.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/3/1987 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1234 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | HOUSTON |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77001 |
| Event Date Year | 1987 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HOUSTON INTERCONTINENTAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IAH |
| 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 | 98 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1248 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IAH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 98 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| 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 | 87 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5101 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 3 1987 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 40012 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 3:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N571PE |
| NTSB Number | FTW88IA037 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | 727-243 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 727-243 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21264 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 170000 |
| 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 | 143 |
| Number of Engines | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 27 1987 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 48 |
| Airframe Hours | 24892 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PEOPLE EXPRESS AIRLINES, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | NORTH TERMINAL |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEWARK |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07114 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 4607 |
| Operator City | HOUSTON |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 772104607 |
| Operator Code | CALA |
| 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 | ELP |
| Departure City | EL PASO |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | IAH |
| Destination City | HOUSTON |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 14 |
| Runway Length | 12001 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |