Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Int Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlanta, Georgia 30320
Tuesady, July 13, 2004 12:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight departed runway 27R, and immediately after takeoff, a passenger reported seeing a "cover" come off the No. 1 engine. The captain felt the airplane "shutter," declared an emergency, and returned the airplane to the airport and landed without further incident. Examination of the airplane revealed both sides of the No. 1 engine fan cowl were separated. The inboard fan cowl door was found approximately 7.5 nautical miles west southwest of the airport, and the outboard fan cowl door was found beside the runway. Examination of the latching mechanisms on each cowl door revealed no evidence of failure or mechanical malfunction. A mechanic stated he opened the fan cowl for the No. 1 engine prior to the flight, and he could not recall if the cowl doors were fully latched. A review of data provided by the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada revealed that, between 1991 and September 2000, there were ten similar cowl door separation events documented worldwide, and each involved the cowl doors having been opened prior to the flight. Examination of the incident airplane revealed it was equipped with the modifications outlined in Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2003-18-06 amendment 39-13297, which mandates the installation of a hold-open device for the cowl doors, as well as a modification of the latch handles to ensure that unfastened latch handles will hang down. A review of the operator's A320/321 preflight checklist revealed it included for each engine, "Check the fan cowl doors." During post-incident examination, a visual walk-around was performed with the undamaged No. 2 engine cowl in various unlatched configurations. Examination revealed unlatched cowl doors can appear closed flush when the hold-open device is overridden in preparation for latching, and unfastened latches that hang down may be obscured from view by the shape of the fan cowl. In response to this incident, Airbus Industrie issued an Operator's Information Telex to "A319/A320/A321 V2500 operators." The telex recommended that, in addition to mandatory compliance with AD 2003-18-06, operators consider the following: "... strictly adhere to AMM Task 71-13-00 for proper latching and closing of fan cowl doors after each maintenance action requiring cowl opening. ... It is essential that a flight crew member visually inspects the fan cowl doors prior to each flight to ensure that they are closed and latched."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of company maintenance personnel to secure the nacelle/cowl doors, which resulted in a separation of the doors during takeoff initial climb.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 7/13/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Atlanta |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30320 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 353322N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0843347W |
| Event Location Airport | Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Int |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KATL |
| 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 | 1026 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KATL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1026 |
| 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 | 3000 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| 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 | 110 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18070 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 13 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1340 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta FSDO - 11 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N951LF |
| NTSB Number | ATL04IA156 |
| 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 | Airbus Industrie |
| Aircraft Model | A320-233 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 460 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 169754 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 166 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 520 |
| Airframe Hours | 32672.4 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | First Security Bank Utah NA Trustee |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 79 South Main Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salt Lake City |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84111 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Ryan International Airlines, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 266 North Main Street |
| Operator City | Wichita |
| Operator State | KS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 67202 |
| Operator Code | RYNA |
| 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 | KATL |
| Departure City | Atlanta |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1140 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KMCO |
| Destination City | Orlando |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb - to cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 31 2005 2:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| 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 | -- |