Airbus A320-211 N331NW
28 April 1995 · Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 28 April 1995 at about 17:00 local time, a Airbus A320-211 registered N331NW was involved in an incident near Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. 90 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 17:00
- Classification
- Incident
- Location
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
- Coordinates
- 44.8806, -93.2207
- Aircraft
- Airbus A320-211
- Registration
- N331NW
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 2
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 121: Air Carrier
- Purpose of flight
- Unknown
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Unknown → Orange County
- Aircraft damage
- Not recorded
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- CHI95IA342
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
Probable cause
inadequate design of the fly-by-wire flight control system which allowed false signals from the sidestick transducer units to generate uncommanded rolls.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
ON TWO CONSECUTIVE DAYS, THE SAME AIRPLANE EXPERIENCED UNCOMMANDED ROLLS DURING FLIGHT WITH THE AUTOPILOT ENGAGED. INSPECTION OF THE AIRPLANE SYSTEMS REVEALED A DEFECT IN A ROLL POTENTIOMETER LOCATED IN THE CAPTAINS SIDESTICK TRANSDUCER UNIT. A GREASE FILLED GROOVE WAS FOUND IN THE POTENTIOMETER TRACK NEAR THE NEUTRAL POSITION. THIS POTENTIOMETER SENDS ELECTRONIC SIGNALS TO THE ELEVATOR AILERON CONTROLLER (ELAC-1). THE GROOVE RESULTED IN AN INTERMITTENT LOSS OF CONTACT BETWEEN THE WIPER AND THE TRACK AND SUBSEQUENTLY A 'VOLTAGE SPIKE' TO THE ELAC-1. FOLLOWING THIS INCIDENT AIRBUS ISSUED TWO SERVICE BULLETINS ADDRESSING THE 'VOLTAGE SPIKE' PHENOMENON WHICH HAS BEEN OCCURRING ON OTHER A320 AIRPLANES SINCE 1991.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Airbus A320 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Apr 1995 | Airbus A320-211 | Washington, District of Columbia, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 18 Mar 1996 | Airbus A320-211 | Detroit, Michigan, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 20 Jan 1992 | Airbus A320 | Strasburg, France | Air Inter | Unknown | - |
| 12 Jun 2000 | Airbus A320-232 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 10 Aug 1990 | Airbus A320-211 | Chicago, Illinois, United States | Northwest Airlines | No injuries | - |
| 23 Aug 2000 | Airbus A320 | Manama, Bahrain | Gulfair, Inc | Fatal | 143 |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Feb 1995 | Piper PA-23-250 | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | AB Flight Services | No injuries | - |
| 18 Feb 1995 | Cessna 180J | Cotton, Minnesota, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 6 Mar 1995 | Beechcraft 1900 | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | Great Lakes Aviation, Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 17 Mar 1995 | Cessna 185 | Baudette, Minnesota, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 28 Dec 1995 | Fairchild SA227-AC | Bemidji, Minnesota, United States | Mesaba Airlines, Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 16 Mar 1995 | Piper PA-32-300 | Lakeville, Minnesota, United States | Richard Knutson | No injuries | - |