Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
John F. Kennedy International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jamaica, New York 11430
Wednesday, December 27, 2000 20:33 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the takeoff roll, the flight crew heard a "bang;" however, the pilot continued the takeoff and began a climb. The flightcrew was unable to pressurize the passenger cabin, and elected to divert the flight to another airport, where the airplane landed uneventfully. Inspection of the airplane revealed a gash about 3 feet long, by 1 foot wide on the underside of the fuselage, aft of the passenger entry door, and damage to the right nose gear tire. Inspection of the runway at the departure airport revealed an in-ground light cover, that weighted about 100 pounds, was separated from its mount, broken in two pieces, and lying on the runway. Black marks, consistent in color and texture to rubber, and resembling a tire tread, were observed on the optical lighting well, and on the underside of the light fixture. The light cover was part of an in-ground, semi-flush mounted approach lighting fixture installed at the approach end of the runway in 1997. The lighting system had not been commissioned as of the date of the accident due to lack of certification from the FAA. Examination of the light fixture revealed that the six bolts, which were utilized to attach the lighting assembly to the in-ground base, were sheared. The fracture surfaces on the bolts were smeared, consistent with low cycle fatigue fractures that occur over a period of time. The bolts were located on the underside of the fixture, and to inspect them, required removal of the fixture cover. Repairs and inspections of runway lighting facilities at the airport were conducted at varied intervals; however, due to the lack of being commissioned, the in-ground, semi-flush mounted approach lighting fixtures installed at the approach end of the runway were only visually inspected. The runway was inspected for debris and general condition on a daily basis, or on a Duty Manager shift change, in accordance with 14 CFR Part 139.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The low cycle fatigue fracturing of the approach lighting cover securing bolts.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/27/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2033 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Jamaica |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 11430 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403755N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0734646W |
| Event Location Airport | John F. Kennedy International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JFK |
| 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 | 13 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2051 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JFK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 13 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 27 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11525 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 28 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2002 1:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FSDO-25 Teterboro, NJ |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N769NC |
| NTSB Number | NYC01FA062 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | DC-9-51 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 47757 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 121000 |
| 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 | 131 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| 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 | Northwest Airlines Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5101 Northwest Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | St. Paul |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55111 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | NWAA |
| 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 | JFK |
| Departure City | Jamaica |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2033 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DTW |
| Destination City | Detroit |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - roll/run |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 30 2002 4:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31L |
| Runway Length | 14572 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |