McDonnell Douglas MD-11 HL737

Summary

On 25 May 1996 at about 22:13 local time, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 registered HL737 was involved in an accident near Los Angeles, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 May 1996 at 22:13

Classification

Accident

Location

Los Angeles, California, United States

Nearest airport

Los Angeles International (LAX)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas MD-11

Registration

HL737

Category

Airplane

Engines

3

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 129: Foreign

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX96FA206

Nobody was injured.

the crew's failure to maintain the proper approach airspeed and rate of descent. Contributing to the accident was the crew's failure to follow the checklist and inadequate supervision by the pilot-in-command.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was cleared to land on runway 25L at LAX with the first officer flying the approach manually. The crew of a commuter aircraft holding for departure witnessed the landing and the tail strike upon touchdown. According to information from the flight data recorder, the airspeed fell below Vref with a corresponding increase in the rate of descent. The attitude of the aircraft was 12 degrees nose high when the tail contacted the runway coincident with the main gear touchdown. The crew did not to use the appropriate checklist, nor arm the spoilers for the approach and landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.