Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
John F Kennedy Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New York, New York 11430
Sunday, April 23, 1989 17:01 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
TWO 747S WERE ON APPROACH FOR RWY 31R, FOLLOWED BY A SWEARINGEN SA 227AC MERLIN. THE MERLIN WAS GIVEN A VISUAL APPROACH WHICH THE PILOT ACCEPTED AND TRAFFIC HE WAS TO FOLLOW WAS CALLED AS BEING AT THE 11 O'CLOCK POSITION. RADAR DATA SHOWED THE FIRST 747 ONLY 10 DEGREES TO THE LEFT OF THE NOSE OF THE MERLIN WHICH THE FLIGHT CREW IDENTIFIED AS THE TRAFFIC TO FOLLOW. THE SECOND 747 WHICH WAS THE ONE TO BE FOLLOWED WAS 45 DEGREES TO THE LEFT OF THE NOSE. THE MERLIN PASSED APPROXIMATELY 300 FT OVER THE TOP OF THE 2ND 747 IN THE VICINITY OF THE OUTER MARKER WHILE ON THE VISUAL APPROACH. NO EVASIVE ACTION WAS TAKEN. THE CAPTAIN OF THE MERLIN SAID HE NORMALLY FLYS 1 TO 1 1/2 DOTS HIGH ON THE GLIDE SLOPE FOR WAKE TURBULENCE. THE SUN WAS AT AN ANGLE THAT BACKLIGHTED BOTH 747S.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE FAILURE OF THE SWEARINGEN FLIGHT CREW TO PROPERLY IDENTIFY THE AIRPLANE THEY WERE TO FOLLOW, PRIOR TO ACCEPTING THE VISUAL APPROACH TO RUNWAY 31R.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 4/23/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1701 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | NEW YORK |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 11430 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | JOHN F KENNEDY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JFK |
| 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 | 13 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 310 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JFK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 13 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| 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 | 241 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5062 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 41735 |
| 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 | N3044J | N305TW |
| NTSB Number | NYC89IA123A | NYC89IA123B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter | 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 | FAIRCHILD SWEARINGEN | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | SA-227AC | 747-284B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SA-227AC | 747-284B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AC-466 | 20742 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 14600 | 775000 |
| 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 | 20 | 495 |
| Number of Engines | 2 | 4 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 19 1989 12:00AM | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 23 | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 14986 | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | No | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHARLES & JEAN HARALE | TRANS WORLD AIRLINES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4249 COUNTRY CLUB DR. | 100 SOUTH BEDFORD ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | BAKERFIELD | MT KISCO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93306 | 10549 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | POCONO AIRLINES | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | WILKES BARRE/SCRANTON AIRPORT | |
| Operator City | AVOCA | |
| Operator State | PA | |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 18641 | |
| Operator Code | PLAA | TWAA |
| 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 | Domestic | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PVD | LHR |
| Departure City | PROVIDENCE | LUNDON |
| Departure State | RI | OF |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 0 | 942 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ||
| Destination City | ||
| Destination State | ||
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31R | 31R |
| Runway Length | 10000 | 10000 |
| Runway Width | 150 | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |