Airbus A-320-211 N310NW

Summary

On 24 November 1996 at about 19:50 local time, a Airbus A-320-211 registered N310NW, operated by Northwest Airlines, was involved in an incident near Romulus, Michigan, United States. 147 people were on board and nobody was injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 November 1996 at 19:50

Classification

Incident

Location

Romulus, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Detroit Metropolitan (DTW)

Coordinates

42.2306, -83.3898

Aircraft

Airbus A-320-211

Registration

N310NW

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Northwest Airlines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Lauderdale → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI97IA034

Nobody was injured.

restricted movement of the autopilot mode engagement/disengagement lever bearing in the rudder artificial feel and trim unit. A factor relating to this incident was: company management not implementing the respective service bulletin.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

As the captain applied rudder over the runway threshold to compensate for a crosswind, he noted that the rudder pedals 'were locked in the neutral position.' He used slight banking to keep the airplane on runway centerline through touchdown, and differential braking and nosewheel steering to stay on runway centerline after touchdown. Shortly after exiting the runway, the rudder became free and moved normally. Examination of the rudder autopilot artificial feel unit revealed that the radial play of the autopilot mode engagement/disengagement lever was not sufficient. This introduced higher friction in the bearing of the lever, resulting in an increased operating force. In this case, the back driving force was not able to rotate the lever and disengage the autopilot mode. A review of all service bulletins (SBs) covering the A320 rudder system revealed an Airbus Industrie SB, dated March 21, 1992, which addressed this condition, and introduced a new modified lever with a larger radial play of the bearing to eliminate the problem. The A320, N310NW, did not have this modification at the time of the incident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.