Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta I Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlanta, Georgia 30320
Sunday, May 19, 2013 13:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane experienced a partial separation of the right inboard foreflap during approach to the airport after the crew selected flaps 30. The crew performed a go-around and landed uneventfully. Examination of the outboard fitting that attaches the right inboard foreflap to the sequence carriage revealed a fracture in the lug. A portion of the fracture had a slow growth region consistent with fatigue that caused the lug to fail under normal flight conditions. The failure of the lug resulted in a skewed condition of the right inboard foreflap and subsequent partial separation of the foreflap. Examination of the sequence carriages for both the right and left inboard foreflaps revealed several discrepancies with the bearings including incompatible parts, flat spots, play, binding, and roughness of operation.
Due to several other prior events, the manufacturer previously recommended specific maintenance tasks on the foreflaps and the FAA issued an airworthiness directive for mandatory inspections. A review of the airplane's maintenance records revealed that the foreflap components had been inspected or lubricated three times in the preceding six months, the most recent occurring two weeks prior to the incident. The records showed that the airplane was in compliance with all required and recommended maintenance practices for the flaps. However, maintenance personnel failed to notice the fatigue cracking in the lug and the anomalies with the bearings on the sequence carriages during the dedicated foreflap maintenance tasks.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the right inboard foreflap outboard fitting due to fatigue and bearing anomalies on the sequence carriages which resulted in the partial separation of the right inboard foreflap. Contributing to the incident was the failure of maintenance personnel to detect the fatigue cracking and bearing anomalies during dedicated inspections.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 5/19/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1310 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Atlanta |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30320 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333827N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0842540W |
| Event Location Airport | HARTSFIELD - JACKSON ATLANTA I |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ATL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 9 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1026 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1302 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KATL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32912 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 19 2014 10:53AM |
| User who most recently changed record | croc |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | B18701 |
| NTSB Number | ENG13IA027 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 129: Foreign |
| 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 | 747 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 400 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30759 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 875000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 4 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 0 |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 4 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 5 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 57335 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | China Airlines Ltd. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | Dayuan Township |
| Aircraft Owner City | Taoyuan |
| Aircraft Owner State | UN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | TW |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | China Airlines Ltd. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | Dayuan Township |
| Operator City | Taoyuan |
| Operator State | UN |
| Operator Country | TW |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | SAJF |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | SAJF979H |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ANC |
| Departure City | ANCHORAGE |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1050 |
| Departure Time Zone | UTC |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ATL |
| Destination City | Atlanta |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 19 2014 10:53AM |
| User who most recently changed record | croc |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |