Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Denver International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Denver, Colorado 80249
Sunday, October 12, 2003 7:17 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the captain, during the take-off roll, and shortly after the first officer called out the take-off decision speed (V1,158 knots), the take-off warning horn sounded. At that time, the captain initiated a Rejected Take-Off (RTO). Assured that a stop on the runway was possible, he elected not to apply maximum braking in "hopes that a more gentle brake application might avoid or mitigate any damage to the aircraft and lessen the heat and fire risk." During the RTO, DEN tower contacted the crew and reported smoke in the vicinity of the left main landing gear. Immediately thereafter, the tower reported that fire was coming from the same area. DEN tower initiated a call to alert aircraft rescue and firefighting equipment (ARFF) to the scene. The aircraft came to a stop, on the runway centerline, with approximately 1,800 feet of runway remaining. The crew completed the emergency quick evacuation checklist, and all seven persons aboard egressed via the L1 escape slide. The initial inspection of the airplane revealed that both of the nose landing gear tires, two main landing gear brake lines, all eight main landing gear brake assemblies, and all eight main landing gear tires were damaged during the RTO. Each damaged item was required to be replaced prior to towing the aircraft off the runway. The maintenance manager stated that the nose and main landing gear assemblies had "overheated," during the RTO and that each tire had deflated after the airplane came to rest, because "there was no indication that the tires had skidded." During an examination of the airplane, it was determined that the take-off warning horn was the result of a take-off configuration conflict between the inboard and outboard slats. An inspection of the inboard slat drive mechanism's lower left hand anti-torque strut, revealed that a rod-end bearing had migrated out of the rod-end, and that two washers were missing, which allowed the anti-torque strut to ride on the bolt that attaches the rod-end to the slat drive mechanism.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the manufacturer's improper installation of the inboard slat drive mechanism's lower left hand anti-torque strut, which resulted in the axial migration of the rod-end bearing, the binding of the anti-torque strut, and the subsequent activation of the slat take-off configuration warning horn. Contributing factors include the aborted take-off, the initiation of normal brakes during a high energy stop, and the main landing gear fire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 10/12/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 717 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Denver |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80249 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395130N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1044001W |
| Event Location Airport | Denver International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DEN |
| 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 | 5431 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 720 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KDEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5431 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dawn |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 110 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 221 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5776 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15664 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Fedex |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 12 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N375FE |
| NTSB Number | DEN04IA012 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | DC-10-10 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 46613 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 440000 |
| 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 | Aug 11 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1067 |
| Airframe Hours | 76360 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Federal Express Corporation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O.Box 727 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Memphis |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38194 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | DEN |
| Departure City | Denver |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 717 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MEM |
| Destination City | Memphis |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - aborted |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 21 2004 10:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17R |
| Runway Length | 16000 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |