Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
John F. Kennedy International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jamaica, New York 11401
Tuesady, September 2, 2003 11:39 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was on final approach when the flightcrew attempted to lower the landing gear; however, the nose gear indicator red light remained illuminated and the nose landing gear indicator pin did not extend. The flightcrew performed a low approach and ground personnel stated that the nose gear doors were partially open. The flightcrew subsequently performed an emergency landing, with the nose landing gear retracted. After the airplane came to a stop, the passengers deplaned via the aft door exit. Examination of the airplane revealed that the nose landing gear spray deflector was fractured near the middle, and found in two sections. The right section of the spray deflector had rotated about 180 degrees, and was found wedged between the nose landing gear and the right side of the wheel-well structure. The nose landing gear tire was above the wedged spray deflector section. The left section of the spray deflector was found in it's original position, which was forward, with the nose landing gear retracted. There was evidence of yellow paint transfer on the right upper surface (aft corner) of the spray deflector. Similar paint marks were observed on the left bottom surface (forward corner) of the spray deflector section. In addition, yellow paints chips were found embedded under a screw head at that location. The distance between the two yellow paint marks was approximately 29 inches. The tow operator who participated in the pushback of the airplane prior to takeoff stated that the tow bar became disconnected while the airplane was being towed; however, he did not observe any damage to the airplane. The tow bar was painted yellow and the distance between the tow bar forks was approximately 30 inches.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A fractured nose gear spray deflector due to contact with a tow bar during pushback, which subsequently jammed and prevented nose gear extension during landing. A factor in this accident was the tow operator's failure to detect the damaged spray deflector.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/2/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1139 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Jamaica |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 11401 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403808N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0734626W |
| Event Location Airport | John F. Kennedy International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JFK |
| 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 | 13 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1144 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JFK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 13 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| 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 | 138 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17203 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 2 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Garden City |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N454AA |
| NTSB Number | NYC03FA186 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MCDONNELL DOUGLAS |
| Aircraft Model | DC-9-82 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 49559 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 147000 |
| 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 | 136 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 31 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 46603 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Bay 2 Bay Leasing LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 555 California St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Francisco |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94104 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AMERICAN AIRLINES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Fort Worth |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 76155 |
| Operator Code | AALA |
| 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/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DFW |
| Departure City | Dallas-Fort Wor |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 534 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EWR |
| Destination City | Newark |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 24 2014 5:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 4L |
| Runway Length | 11351 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |