El Paso International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

El Paso, Texas
Friday, July 27, 2012 14:14 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On July 27, 2012, about 1414 mountain daylight time, Southwest Airlines flight 1871, a Boeing 737-3H4, registration N379SW, experienced a structural failure of the nose gear actuator retract beam when the landing gear was selected down during approach to El Paso International Airport (ELP), El Paso, Texas. There were no injuries to the 71 passengers and 5 crewmembers on board and the airplane sustained minor damage. The flight was operating under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121 on a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS), Las Vegas, Nevada to ELP. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 7/27/2012
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1414
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City El Paso
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport El Paso International Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KELP
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 13
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 3962
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1351 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID KELP
Elevation of weather observation facility 3962
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 15000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5500
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 16
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 23
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.09
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 76
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source Southwest Airlines
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 16 2012 11:22AM
User who most recently changed record held
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N379SW
NTSB Number DCA12IA113
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 BOEING
Aircraft Model 737-3H4
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 26586
Certified Max Gross Weight 138500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 4
Cabin Crew Seats 4
Passenger Seats 137
Total number of seats on the aircraft 145
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Nov 5 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 59940
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2702 LOVE FIELD DR # HDQ-4GC
Aircraft Owner City DALLAS
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75235-1908
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 2702 LOVE FIELD DR # HDQ-4GC
Operator City DALLAS
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 75235-1908
Operator Code SWAA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number SWAA304A
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 KLAS
Departure City Las Vegas
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1141
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code KELP
Destination City El Paso
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 16 2012 11:17AM
User who most recently changed record held
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 08R
Runway Length 9028
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight --
Medical Flight --