McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 N963N

Summary

On 5 July 1997 at about 20:15 local time, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 registered N963N, operated by Northwest Airlines, Inc., was involved in an incident near Flint, Michigan, United States. 52 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 July 1997 at 20:15

Classification

Incident

Location

Flint, Michigan, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30

Registration

N963N

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Northwest Airlines, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Milwaukee → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI97IA195

Nobody was injured.

An electrical short in the wiring of the left wingtip oscillating position light auto transformer and a failure of the system circuit breaker.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The captain and first officer noticed smoke coming from underneath the airplane's instrument panel glareshield while at cruise altitude. After putting on smoke goggles and oxygen masks the flight crew performed the emergency checklist. Upon shutting down the generators, the smoke cleared from the cockpit in about 4-minutes. The flight landed and its passengers deplaned without incident. Examination of the instrument panel area revealed burnt wiring and a charred position light switch. Further examination showed that the left wingtip's oscillating position light autotransformer had shorted out, and the position light circuit breaker was stuck in the closed position.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.