NTSB: Mechanical defects led to 2010 runway overrun in Wyoming
By Bart Jansen, USA TODAY
Federal safety regulators on Tuesday blamed mechanical defects for a 2010 incident where an American Airlines jet ran off the end of an icy runway in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Nobody was hurt on the flight with 179 passengers and six crew members from Chicago on Dec. 29, 2010. But the Boeing 757-200 came to rest 730 feet beyond the end of the runway in deep snow.
The National Transportation Safety Board found that the plane's speedbrakes, which disrupt airflow over the wings and greatly increase the effectiveness of wheel brakes, didn't automatically deploy as designed because of an assembly defect.
The captain and co-pilot, who were experienced with the tricky conditions at the mountain airport, thought the speedbrakes had deployed despite their failure to slow down. So the pilots focused trying the thrust reversers, which also didn't work because of a rare hydraulic problem.
As a result, the safety board recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration require:
--Training for pilots to recognize when speedbrakes don't deploy.
--Installing alarms in new planes that warn pilots if speedbrakes don't deploy during landing.
--Boeing to educate pilots about what to do when a thrust reverser locks up as it did.
"Through this investigation, all of us — the investigator, manufacturer, operator, and pilots, alike — all learned important safety lessons," said Deborah Hersman, the board chairman.
By Bart Jansen, USA TODAY
Federal safety regulators on Tuesday blamed mechanical defects for a 2010 incident where an American Airlines jet ran off the end of an icy runway in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Nobody was hurt on the flight with 179 passengers and six crew members from Chicago on Dec. 29, 2010. But the Boeing 757-200 came to rest 730 feet beyond the end of the runway in deep snow.
The National Transportation Safety Board found that the plane's speedbrakes, which disrupt airflow over the wings and greatly increase the effectiveness of wheel brakes, didn't automatically deploy as designed because of an assembly defect.
The captain and co-pilot, who were experienced with the tricky conditions at the mountain airport, thought the speedbrakes had deployed despite their failure to slow down. So the pilots focused trying the thrust reversers, which also didn't work because of a rare hydraulic problem.
As a result, the safety board recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration require:
--Training for pilots to recognize when speedbrakes don't deploy.
--Installing alarms in new planes that warn pilots if speedbrakes don't deploy during landing.
--Boeing to educate pilots about what to do when a thrust reverser locks up as it did.
"Through this investigation, all of us — the investigator, manufacturer, operator, and pilots, alike — all learned important safety lessons," said Deborah Hersman, the board chairman.