Dallas-Fort Worth Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Dfw Airport, Texas 75261
Wednesday, May 23, 2001 15:04 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During landing touchdown, following a stabilized approach, the right main landing gear failed. The airplane remained controllable by the pilots and came to a stop on the runway, resting on its right wing. The DFW Fire Department arrived at the accident site in 35 seconds and, following communication between the airplane's Captain and Fire Department's Incident Commander, it was decided that an emergency evacuation of the airplane was not necessary. Examination revealed that the right main gear's outer cylinder had fractured allowing the lower portion of the gear (including the wheel assembly) to separate from the airplane. Research, examination & testing of the cylinder revealed that a forging fold was introduced into the material during the first stage of its forging process. The first stage is a hand operation, therefore the quality is highly dependent on the person performing the hand operation. Following the first landing, the forging fold became a surface breaking crack, due to the normal loads imposed during landing. Although growth of the fatigue crack was suppressed by crack blunting, high load landings resulted in growth of the fatigue crack. Subsequently, the landing gear failed when the crack had reached a critical length. Additionally, the airplane's maintenance records were reviewed and no anomalies were found.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A forging fold that was introduced during the manufacture of the right main landing, which resulted in a fatigue crack in the right main landing gear cylinder, and its subsequent failure during landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/23/2001
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1504
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City DFW Airport
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 75261
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 325347N
Event Location Longitude 0975245W
Event Location Airport Dallas-Fort Worth Intl
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DFW
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 603
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1511 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID DFW
Elevation of weather observation facility 603
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
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) 33
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.86
Density Altitude (feet) 2936
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 92
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14253
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 23 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1510
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 25 2003 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1419D
NTSB Number FTW01FA127
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 Fokker
Aircraft Model F28 Mk 0100
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 11402
Certified Max Gross Weight 98000
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 94
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Apr 17 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 251
Airframe Hours 21589
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name American Airlines Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4333 Amon Carter Blvd
Aircraft Owner City Fort Worth
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76155
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 AALA
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 No
Departure Airport Code CLT
Departure City Charlotte
Departure State NC
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1228
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code DFW
Destination City DFW Airport
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 19 2003 8:38AM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17C
Runway Length 13388
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --