Boeing 727-247 N2809W

Summary

On 6 July 1997 at about 22:50 local time, a Boeing 727-247 registered N2809W was involved in an accident near Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. 156 people were on board and 3 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 July 1997 at 22:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Nearest airport

Albuquerque International (ABQ)

Coordinates

35.0590, -106.6208

Aircraft

Boeing 727-247

Registration

N2809W

Category

Airplane

Engines

3

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dfw Airport → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW97FA255

3 people had minor injuries.

The inadequate inspection of the right main landing gear forward trunnion bearing support fitting. Factors were the failure of the right main landing gear forward trunnion bearing support fitting and the subsequent right main landing gear failure.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Captain reported a normal flight and that the landing approach was stabilized. He stated that the wind was 'right down the runway for the landing.' As the airplane decelerated through 70 KIAS, the first officer reported hearing a 'loud bang,' and the airplane began 'listing heavily to the right and drifting to the right.' The pilots determined that the right main landing gear (MLG) had collapsed and an evacuation was ordered. The right MLG was last removed (18,188 cycles before the accident) for overhaul on April 8, 1988, and the right MLG forward trunnion bearing support fitting (FTBSF) was last ultrasonically inspected in May 1993 (7,634 cycles before the accident). A Service Bulletin, dated March 8, 1990, recommended that the MLG FTBSFs be ultrasonically inspected after 12,000 flight cycles every 6 months or 1,500 flight cycles, whichever occurred first. Operators were to continue this inspection cycle until the part was replaced or the preventative modification was done. The NTSB Materials Laboratory examined the broken right MLG FTBSF and determined that the failure was the result of stress corrosion cracking.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.