La Guardia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

New York, New York 11431
Sunday, July 28, 2002 13:49 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The crew reported a partial loss of flight display information shortly after departure, declared an emergency, and landed uneventfully at the departure airport. This was the operator's fourth reported instance where this type of event had occurred on this make/model airplane. As a result of the investigation, no failure could be identified that would have caused the loss of flight displays. 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 7/28/2002
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1349
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City NEW YORK
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 11431
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 404638N
Event Location Longitude 0735221W
Event Location Airport La Guardia
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LGA
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 22
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1351 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID LGA
Elevation of weather observation facility 22
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 15000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.79
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 35
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16088
NTSB Notification Source ACA Airlines
NTSB Notification Date Jul 29 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 908
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 Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office DULLES FAA/FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N409FJ
NTSB Number IAD02IA076
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 3161
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 Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Jul 21 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 41
Airframe Hours 4000
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
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code LGA
Departure City NEW YORK
Departure State NY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1349
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code CAE
Destination City COLUMBIA
Destination State SC
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 Apr 9 2004 11:39AM
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 --