Dulles International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Dulles, Virginia 20166
Wednesday, November 29, 2000 17:53 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During initial climb-out, the airplane was struck by lightning. Shortly thereafter, dark smoke entered the forward area of the passenger cabin. The crew declared an emergency and the flight attendants, with a passenger's assistance, cut a hole in the overhead panel, and discharged the contents of two hand held fire extinguishers. The airplane landed uneventfully and an emergency evacuation was conducted without incident. Examination of the airplane revealed that a deactivated navigational antenna located in the tail cone had been struck by lightning. Attached to the antenna were two coaxial cables, which were tie-wrapped together, fed into the cabin, and attached along the upper left hand side of the fuselage between the insulation blankets and overhead panels. The cable ends were observed to be mechanically cut and had been fastened above row 7AB, in the area of the most fire damage. The insulation to the right of the cable ends was cratered and burrowed. The cable ends were not protected or grounded. The cables had been cut and partially removed in accordance with an engineering change order (ECO) developed by the operator, so a more advanced system could be installed. According to the procedure, the cable ends were to be covered with heat shrink tubing or other suitable material. Fifty-seven of the operator's 259 MD-80 airplanes had undergone the partial removal of the cables, and 21 airplanes still had the full Omega antenna system installed. As a result of this incident, the operator implemented a revised engineering change order (ECO) that stated, 'the cable which runs down the vertical stabilizer is cut and grounded to structure in the aft accessory compartment. A portion of the cable, which runs through the aft pressure bulkhead, is removed and the feed through is sealed. The intent of this action is to protect the cable from lightning damage.' As of January 11, 2001, the revised ECO had been implemented on all 78 airplanes.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the operator's inadequate maintenance procedure to disconnect the Omega navigational system, which resulted in coaxial cables being cut and not properly protected. A factor in the incident was the lightning strike.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 11/29/2000
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1753
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City DULLES
Event State VIRGINIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 20166
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport DULLES INTERNATIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID IAD
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 313
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1751 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 200
Weather Observation Facility ID DCA
Elevation of weather observation facility 15
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 4000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
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) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 5
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
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 66
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11150
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 29 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1830
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 4 2001 12:55PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3507A
NTSB Number IAD01IA017
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 In-flight
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name McDonnell Douglas
Aircraft Model DC-9-82
Aircraft Series Identifier DC-9-82
Aircraft Serial Number 49801
Certified Max Gross Weight 161000
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 172
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AMR CORPORATION
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City DALLAS/FT.WORTH
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75261
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code AALA
Owner has at least one certificate None
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 DCA
Departure City WASHINGTON DC
Departure State VA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1749
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code DFW
Destination City DALLAS/FT WORTH
Destination State TX
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 16 2001 4:05AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 19R
Runway Length 11501
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --