Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Anchorage International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Anchorage, Alaska 99502
Friday, December 14, 2001 5:15 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The crew of Douglas DC-8-71F airplane reported a partial flight control malfunction during takeoff. The captain reported that just after the airplane became airborne, the airplane rolled hard to the left. He said that he had to apply full right aileron control, in conjunction with right rudder, to keep the airplane from continuing to roll to the left. The crew immediately declared an in-flight emergency, returned to the airport using left turns only, and made an emergency, high speed landing, without the use of any wing flaps. After landing, the flight crew discovered that the left wing outboard spoiler had deployed just after takeoff. A postincident inspection revealed a broken outboard left wing spoiler retraction cable. An NTSB Metallurgist reported that a magnified optical examination of the broken cable revealed that the area adjacent to the fracture site was severely worn, and reduced in size. He added that many individual wire strands were worn to a knife-edge. The remaining broken strands appeared typical of overstress separations, with no indication of external corrosion. Currently, the subject cable is considered to be an "on condition" component, and has no required life limit assigned. In response to this incident the airplane's manufacture sent a safety notice to all DC-8 operators. In the notice, the manufacturer recommends that all operators review their maintenance procedures with respect to the scheduled inspection of all aircraft cables. A special emphasis was placed on the proper cable condition and cable routing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The asymmetrical activation of the left wing spoiler due to a broken retraction cable during takeoff. A factor associated with the incident was the operator's inadequate inspection of the cable.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/14/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 515 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Anchorage |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99502 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 611200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1495000W |
| Event Location Airport | Anchorage International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ANC |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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 |
| 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) | -26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12546 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Anchorage FSDO-03 |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 14 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2003 4:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Anchorage FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N825BX |
| NTSB Number | ANC02IA007 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | DC-8-71F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45978 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 328000 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 4 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 10 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 82406.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Aerousa, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 100 NE 3rd Ave, Suite 800 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ft. Lauderdale |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33301 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Air Transport International |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2800 Cantrell Road |
| Operator City | Little Rock |
| Operator State | AR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 72202 |
| Operator Code | RTIA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | Yes |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ANC |
| Departure City | Anchorage |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 515 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SEA |
| Destination City | Seattle |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 23 2002 6:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 11584 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |