Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Atlantic City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401
Thursday, May 2, 2002 8:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight crew experienced a strong odor and smoke in the cockpit, followed by a loss of flight displays during flight in instrument meteorological conditions. The captain declared an emergency, and the first officer flew the airplane referencing the stand-by instruments. Shortly after declaring the emergency, the crew made a right 360 degree turn to avoid severe weather. However, near the completion of the turn, the crew entered VIP 4 and 5 intensity level weather, and reported moderate to severe turbulence. The airplane was then vectored to an airport east of the severe weather, executed an instrument approach and landed without incident. While on approach, the crew reported that all flight displays had returned back to normal. Twenty-seven days later, another crew, who were flying the same airplane, also experienced a loss of flight displays. Approximately 2 minutes after the failure, the displays returned to normal and the flight landed without incident at its intended destination. Examination of electrical components revealed no discrepancies. In addition, the manufacturer reviewed the design of the electrical system and could not identify a design failure.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The partial loss of flight display information for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 5/2/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | ATLANTIC CITY |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08401 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 392727N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0743438W |
| Event Location Airport | Atlantic City |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ACY |
| 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 | 75 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 854 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ACY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 75 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 16 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.67 |
| 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 | 36 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16086 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Atlantic Coast Airlines |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 2 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1356 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | DULLES FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N429FJ |
| NTSB Number | IAD02IA046 |
| 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 | Fairchild Dornier |
| Aircraft Model | DO-328-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3194 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 33841 |
| 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 | 35 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 13 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 348 |
| Airframe Hours | 766 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | First Union National Bank |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Charlotte |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28288 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ATLANTIC COAST AIRLINES (ACA) |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 515A SHAW ROAD |
| Operator City | DULLES |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 20166 |
| Operator Code | VTZA |
| 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 | GSO |
| Departure City | GREENSBORO |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 731 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LGA |
| Destination City | LAGUARDIA |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2004 10:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |