Aviation Crash Map

Boeing 737-300 N155AW

24 January 1995 · Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 24 January 1995 at about 04:15 local time, a Boeing 737-300 registered N155AW, operated by America West Airlines, Inc., was involved in an incident near Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. 37 people were on board and nobody was injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

The record

Date
at 04:15
Classification
Incident
Location
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Nearest airport
Albuquerque Int'l Airport (ABQ)
Coordinates
35.0498, -106.5898
Aircraft
Boeing 737-300
Registration
N155AW
Category
Airplane
Engines
2
Operating rule
Part 121: Air Carrier
Purpose of flight
Unknown
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Unknown → Las Vegas
Aircraft damage
Not recorded
Weather
VMC
Light
Night/Dark
NTSB number
LAX95IA086

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
37 0 0 0 37

Probable cause

maintenance personnel inadvertently overservicing the left main landing gear strut with nitrogen that, during rotation with the aircraft weight on the strut reduced, gave the pilots a rolling sensation to the right.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THIS AIRCRAFT WAS INVOLVED IN FOUR MOMENTARY UNCOMMANDED ROLLS TO THE RIGHT DURING ROTATION. IN EACH INSTANCE, THE PILOT WAS ABLE TO QUICKLY CORRECT THE SITUATION AND CONTINUE THE FLIGHT WITHOUT FURTHER PROBLEMS. NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS BY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL TO IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM AND TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE WERE UNSUCCESSFUL. AFTER THE FOURTH INCIDENT, THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR STRUT WAS FOUND TO HAVE BEEN OVERSERVICED WITH NITROGEN. THIS ADDITIONAL PRESSURE TO THE STRUT WOULD SUDDENLY LIFT THE LEFT WING DURING ROTATION WHEN THE WEIGHT OF THE AIRCRAFT ON THE LANDING GEAR IS REDUCED, THUS GIVING THE PILOTS A ROLLING SENSATION TO THE RIGHT. THE STRUT WAS RESERVICED WITH OIL AND NITROGEN AND THE AIRCRAFT HAS BEEN RETURNED TO SERVICE WITH NO MORE OCCURRENCES. THE UPPER WING SURFACE PANEL SUPPORT ROD BROKE DUE TO HIGH-CYCLE FATIGUE AND WAS NOT CONSIDERED A FACTOR IN THESE INSTANCES.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Boeing 737 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
28 Jul 1995 Boeing 737-3A4
N675AA
Dallas, Texas, United States Southwest Airlines Co. No injuries -
19 May 1995 Boeing 737-300
N60312
Tallahassee, Florida, United States Continental Airlines Serious injuries -
2 Nov 1995 Boeing 737-3B7
N373US
Portland, Maine, United States
no coordinates
- No injuries -
1 Jan 1995 Boeing 737-3A4
N326SW
Houston, Texas, United States
no coordinates
- No injuries -
18 Aug 1995 Boeing 737-3H4
N309SW
Lubbock, Texas, United States
no coordinates
- No injuries -
29 Dec 1995 Boeing 737-232
N306DL
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
no coordinates
Delta Air Lines No injuries -

All 1,317 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
26 Jun 1995 Piper PA-28R-200
N3032R
Mimbres, New Mexico, United States Bartelett Aviation Minor injuries -
4 Jul 1995 Thunder and Colt AX7-77
N5402V
Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States - Serious injuries -
4 Jul 1995 Cessna 152
N757VK
Farmington, New Mexico, United States - No injuries -
5 Mar 1995 Cessna 421C
N421BL
El Prado, New Mexico, United States - Fatal 4
22 Oct 1995 Beechcraft 95
N661T
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States - No injuries -
1 Jul 1995 Piper PA-32-260
N4823T
Farmington, New Mexico, United States - No injuries -

All 170,864 records in United States