Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Miami, Florida 33159
Wednesday, May 8, 2002 16:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that the aircraft had been performing normally during the flight to Jamaica, West Indies, except for with a slight vibration during the initial flight. During the return leg to Chicago, Illinois, the captain he said that the airplane started vibrating " ten times as bad", so he diverted to, and affected an otherwise uneventful landing, in Miami, Florida. He added that the vibration had continued throughout the flight, until "flaps five" was set during the approach, at which time the vibration stopped. After landing, examination of the airplane showed that about a 24-inch section of the right elevator trim tab had been missing from the aircraft. In addition to the examination of the elevator, the remaining parts adjacent to the separated tab to include two control rods with rod ends, one hinge fitting from the right hand elevator rear spar were removed and examined. The examination revealed the presence of fractures, wear marks to the control rod, as well as post fracture damage to the rods. In addition, the hinge fitting had also incurred fractures as well as severe post fracture rubbing to the lugs, and worn areas between the hinge lugs and the inboard and outboard surfaces of unfractured lugs. On the elevator, rubbing was noted in areas on the aft face and lower skin panels of the elevator rear spar. In addition, the rear spar reinforcing angle and elevator tab control rod inner fairing and external mast fitting had incurred also damage. Boeing reports documenting examinations of the remaining damaged portions of elevator and tab assembly have been included with this report. Pertinent maintenance records were not obtained from Ryan International Airlines or Aer Lingus PLC, and there was no evidence of compliance with Boeing's system maintenance program (SB 737-55A1070R1), pertinent to "freeplay" checks.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Inadequate maintenance by company maintenance personnel and failure to comply with manufacturer recommended maintence procedures (SB 737-55A1070R1), which resulted in an inflight inseparation of a section of the airplane's right hand elevator control tab. A factor in the incident was the flight crew's continued operation of the airplane with a known deficiency.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 5/8/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Miami |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33159 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1656 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MIA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 8 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| 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 | 160 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18006 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Ryan Air Flight Safety |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 10 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1315 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Wichita, Kansas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | EI-BXI |
| NTSB Number | MIA02IA094 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | B737-448 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25052 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 150000 |
| 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 | 178 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 14 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 787 |
| Airframe Hours | 26400 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Aer Lingus |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | Dublin Airport |
| Aircraft Owner City | Dublin |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | EI |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | RYAN AIR INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 266 North Main |
| Operator City | Wichita |
| Operator State | KS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 67202 |
| Operator Code | RYNA |
| 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 | MKJS |
| Departure City | Montego Bay |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | JM |
| Departure Time | 1435 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ORD |
| Destination City | Chicago |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 10 2005 11:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |