Tampa International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Tampa, Florida 33609
Saturday, August 10, 2002 5:40 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The captain lowered the landing gear on base leg and heard a loud bang followed by the airplane shuddering. An emergency was declared and the flight crew conducted the emergency abnormal procedures. A forced landing was made to the destination airport and all main landing gear tires blew out. The flight crew completed an emergency shutdown and evacuated the airplane with out further incident. Examination of the airplane revealed a failure of the left hand main landing gear retract cylinder support frame due to fatigue, the breaking of the hydraulic lines attached to the retract cylinder, dumping of hydraulic fluid overboard, and the deactivation of the antiskid system.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the left main landing gear retract cylinder support frame due to fatigue.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 8/10/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 540
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Tampa
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33609
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 275831N
Event Location Longitude 0823159W
Event Location Airport Tampa International Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TPA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 26
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 553 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID TPA
Elevation of weather observation facility 26
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Dawn
Lowest Ceiling Height 12000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.04
Density Altitude (feet) 897
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KTPA 100953Z 00000KT 10SM BKN120 24/22 A3004
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12720
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 10 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 715
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 1 2003 4:20PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Tampa FSDO - 35

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N388FE
NTSB Number ATL02IA155
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 McDonnell Douglas
Aircraft Model DC-10-10
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 46622
Certified Max Gross Weight 443000
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 9
Number of Engines 3
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Jun 27 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 115
Airframe Hours 67915
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Federal Express Corporation
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3101 Tchulahoma Road
Aircraft Owner City Memphis
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 38118
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 FDEA
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 Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code MEM
Departure City Memphis
Departure State TN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 317
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code TPA
Destination City Tampa
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2002 8:37AM
User who most recently changed record CHRS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36L
Runway Length 11022
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --