Tahiti-Faaa International Airp Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Faaa Tahiti
Saturday, December 23, 2000 23:53 ADT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On December 23, 2000 ,a Hawaiian Airlines McDonnell-Douglas DC 10-10 on landing at Faaa Tahiti departed the end of runway 4 at a slow speed. The nose of the airplane came to rest in the lagoon. The airplane was evacuated without injury to the 130 people aboard the airplane. The pilot reported nil braking and difficulty with directional control in rain and winds. Damage to the aircraft included damage to engines No. 1 and No. 3 including probable foreign object debris ingestion and possible pylon structural damage. The lower front fuselage including radome, pitot assemblies, AC pack intake, and avionics bay were immersed in salt water. The Bureau Enquetes Accidents (BEA) of France is investigating the accident and will issue an accident report.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/23/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 2353
Event Time Zone Atlantic Daylight Time
Event City FAAA Tahiti
Event State --
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Tahiti-FAAA International Airp
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NTAA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 600
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Overcast
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 2
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 28
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 19
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 28
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.8
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Moderate
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 139
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency Foreign
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source NTSB Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Dec 24 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 30
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 3 2005 11:30AM
User who most recently changed record ntsb\Administrator
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Honololu, HI

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N132AA
NTSB Number DCA01WA009
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name McDonnell Douglas
Aircraft Model DC-10-10
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 47827
Certified Max Gross Weight 430000
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/Foreign Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 319
Number of Engines 3
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Nov 29 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 152
Airframe Hours 64841
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name American Airlines
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO Box 619616
Aircraft Owner City Dallas
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75261
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address PO Box 30008
Operator City Honolulu
Operator State HI
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 96820
Operator Code HALA
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 International
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PHNL
Departure City Honolulu
Departure State HI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 438
Departure Time Zone UTC
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code NTAA
Destination City FAAA Papeete
Destination State --
Destination Country FP
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Aug 21 2003 2:24PM
User who most recently changed record HAUT
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 04
Runway Length 11220
Runway Width 148
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --