The William B Hartsfield Atlan Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Atlanta, Georgia
Wednesday, November 29, 2000 13:50 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Shortly after takeoff, the airplane experienced electrical problems, including numerous tripped circuit breakers. The flight crew requested a return to airport. During the landing rollout, the lead flight attendant and air traffic control personnel reported to the flight crew that smoke was coming from the left side of the airplane; subsequently, the flight crew initiated an emergency evacuation on one of the taxiways. Examination of the airplane revealed fire damage to the left, forward areas of the fuselage, cabin, and forward cargo compartment. The greatest amount of fire damage was found just aft of the electrical disconnect panel located at fuselage station 237. There was no evidence that the drip shield normally installed over the disconnect panel was present at the time of the accident. Bluish stains caused by lavatory rinse fluid were observed on surfaces near the disconnect panel on the accident airplane and in the same areas on another of AirTran's DC-9 airplanes. Examination of one of the connectors from the disconnect panel on the accident airplane revealed light-blue and turquoise-green deposits on its internal surfaces and evidence of shorting between the connector pins. It could not be determined when the drip shield over the disconnect panel was removed; however, this likely contributed to the lavatory fluid contamination of the connectors. Following the accident, AirTran revised its lavatory servicing procedures to emphasize the importance of completely draining the waste tank to avoid overflows. Boeing issued an alert service bulletin recommending that operators of DC-9 airplanes visually inspect the connectors at the FS 237 disconnect panel for evidence of lavatory rinse fluid contamination and that they install a drip shield over the disconnect panel. Boeing also issued a service letter to operators to stress the importance of properly sealing floor panels and adhering to lavatory servicing procedures specified in its DC-9 Maintenance Manual. The Safety Board is aware of two incidents involving the military equivalent of the DC-9 that involved circumstances similar to the accident involving N826AT. Drip shields were installed above the FS 237 disconnect panels on both airplanes.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the leakage of lavatory fluid from the airplane's forward lavatory onto electrical connectors, which caused shorting that led to a fire. Contributing to the accident were the inadequate servicing of the lavatory and the failure of maintenance to ensure reinstallation of the shield over the fuselage station 237 disconnect panel.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/29/2000
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1350
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City ATLANTA
Event State GEORGIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site --
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 THE WILLIAM B HARTSFIELD ATLAN
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ATL
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID KATL
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2700
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 4
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.14
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 13
Injury Total None 84
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 13
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13535
NTSB Notification Source FAA Washington Operations Cent
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record May 8 2003 11:25AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions --
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N826AT
NTSB Number DCA01MA005
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire Ground and In-flight
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Douglas
Aircraft Model DC-9
Aircraft Series Identifier DC-9
Aircraft Serial Number 47359
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Nov 29 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 78255
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
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? No
Operator Name AIRTRAN AIRWAYS INC
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 9955 AIRTRAN BLVD
Operator City ORLANDO
Operator State FL
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code 32827
Operator Code ZZDA
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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) --
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City --
Departure State --
Departure Country --
Departure Time 1540
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City AKRON/CANTON
Destination State OH
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Jan 29 2003 8:25AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26R
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --