Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Washington, District Of Columbia 20041
Monday, May 15, 1989 18:41 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
NASA T-38, N920NS, WAS INBND (HDG EAST) ON A FINKS ONE ARRIVAL TO ANDREWS AFB WITH CLNC TO DSCND TO 8000'. IN THE SAME AREA, PAN AM FLT 140 (AIRBUS A310/N806PA) WAS HDG NORTH AT 7000' AFTER DEPG DULLES (IAD) IAP. THE AIRBUS WAS HANDLED BY IAD APCH CTL. THE T-38 WAS HANDLED BY WASHINGTON (DCA) APCH CTL. THE T-38 PLT DSCNDD THRU 8000' & RPRTD AT 7000'. AT 1ST THE DCA CTLR DIDN'T REALIZE THE T-38 WAS AT THE WRONG ALT. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE CONFLICT ALERT ALARMED & THE DCA CTLR ISSUED A TFC ADZY. THE T-38 PLT IMMEDIATELY CLIMBED TO 8000', BUT BEFORE HE CLIMBED, RADAR DATA INDCD THE AIRBUS & T-38 PASSED EACH OTR WITH 711' LATERAL CLNC & 100' VERTICAL CLNC. THE AIRBUS PLT STATED HE SAW THE T-38 PASS AHEAD FM LEFT TO RGT. THE IAD CONTROLLER DID NOTICE TFC FOR THE AIRBUS, BUT HE DID NOT ISSUE A TFC ADZRY. ALSO, HE SAID HIS CONFLICT ALERT SYS DID NOT ALARM; COMPUTER DATA INDCD THE ALARM HAD OPERATED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND (T-38 PILOT) TO FOLLOW THE ATC CLEARANCE AND TO MAINTAIN THE PROPER ALTITUDE. FACTORS RELATED TO THE INCIDENT WERE: FAILURE OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ATC) PERSONNEL TO RECOGNIZE THE T-38'S IMPROPER ALTITUDE IN A TIMELY MANNER, AND ATC PERSONNEL'S DELAY IN INITIATING CORRCTIVE ACTION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 5/15/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1841 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | WASHINGTON |
| Event State | DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20041 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| 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 | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1838 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 110 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DCA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 16 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| 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 | 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 | 177 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5048 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 16 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 40616 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2001 10:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N920NS | N806PA |
| NTSB Number | BFO89IA036A | BFO89IA036B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | 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 | NORTHROP | Airbus Industrie |
| Aircraft Model | T-38A | A-310 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | T-38A | A310 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 66-8386 | 342 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11000 | 302000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | Unknown |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 265 |
| Number of Engines | 2 | 2 |
| 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 | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NATIONAL AERO. & SPACE ADMIN. | PAN AMERICAN WORLD AIRWAY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | JOHNSON SPACE CENTER | 200 PARK AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOUSTON | NEW YORK |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77058 | 10166 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | ||
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | ||
| Operator City | ||
| Operator State | ||
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | ||
| Operator Code | PAAA | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | 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 |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Public Use | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | HOP | IAD |
| Departure City | FT CAMPBELL | WASHINGTON |
| Departure State | KY | DC |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1741 | 1835 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ADW | ORY |
| Destination City | ANDREWS AFB | PARIS,FRANCE |
| Destination State | MD | OF |
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM | Sep 28 2001 1:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 | 0 |
| Runway Length | 0 | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |