Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
South Haven, Michigan 49090
Sunday, June 23, 1985 17:08 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
WHILE EN ROUTE ON AN IFR FLT PLAN (1ST OFFICER AT CTLS), AMERICAN FLT 803 (A BOEING 727, N1965) BGN A DSCNT FM FL 190 TO9000'. THE SEAT BELT SIGN WAS TURNED ON AT 18,000'. WHILE DSCNDG BTN CLD LAYERS, AT APRX 13,000 TO 12,000', THE CAPT SAWA CESSNA 421C, N1200L, CONVERGING FM OPPOSITE DRCTN. HE TOOK CTL & 'EXECUTED A HARD NOSE OVER' TO AVOID A COLLISION. THECESSNA PLT RPRTD HE WAS CRUISING IN VFR CONDS AT 12,500' WHEN HE SAW THE BOEING DSCNDG OUT OF SCAT CLDS. HE BGN DSCNDG, THEN ENTERED AN ABRUPT CLBG TURN TO AVOID COLLIDING. RPRTDLY, THE ACFT PASSED EACH OTHER W/I 50 TO 100'. AN UNRESTRAINEDPAX & 1 FLT ATNDNT (FA) WERE SERIOUSLY INJURED; 2 FA'S RECEIVED MINOR INJURIES. AFTER LNDG, WRINKLES & SKIN DMG WERE FNDON THE CESSNA'S HORIZONTAL STABILIZERS. THE CESSNA PLT WAS USING HIS #2 TRANSPONDER (XP); ARTCC WAS RECEIVING ITS REPLY INTERMITTENTLY; IT WAS FND TRANSMITTING 3 MHZ (MAX LMT) ABV THE DESIRED FREQ. ON 4/12/84, XP'S WERE CHKD & WRITTEN UP AS'#2 OFF FREQ HIGH.' AFTER THE NR COLLISION, THE ARTCC CTLR NOTED THE 'ALL PRIMARY' FEATURE OF HIS RADAR WAS NOT IN USE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/23/1985 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1708 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | SOUTH HAVEN |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49090 |
| Event Date Year | 1985 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 71 |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2474 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 23 1985 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 30332 |
| 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 | N1965 | N1200L |
| NTSB Number | CHI85FA249A | CHI85FA249B |
| 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 | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BOEING | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 727 | 421C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 727 | 421C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 19839 | 421C-1257 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 142000 | 7450 |
| 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 | 134 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 3 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- | Oct 1 1984 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | 138 |
| Airframe Hours | -- | 378 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ||
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ||
| Aircraft Owner City | ||
| Aircraft Owner State | ||
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | ||
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. | MICHAEL R. MEYERS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 61616 | 5551 BURNHAM CT, NW |
| Operator City | DALLAS | FORT MYERS |
| Operator State | TX | FL |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 75261 | |
| Operator Code | AALA | |
| 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/Cargo | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ORD | DET |
| Departure City | CHICAGO | DETROIT |
| Departure State | IL | MI |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 0 | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GRR | DPA |
| Destination City | GRAND RAPIDS | WEST CHICAGO |
| Destination State | MI | IL |
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 | 0 |
| Runway Length | 0 | -- |
| Runway Width | 0 | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |