Boeing 737-200RS N205AU

Summary

On 24 September 1997 at about 17:27 local time, a Boeing 737-200RS registered N205AU, operated by Frontier Airlines, Inc., was involved in an incident near Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. 69 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 September 1997 at 17:27

Classification

Incident

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Salt Lake City Int'l (SLC)

Coordinates

40.6204, -111.7092

Aircraft

Boeing 737-200RS

Registration

N205AU

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Frontier Airlines, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Denver

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW97IA363

1 person had minor injuries.

The captain's failure to maintain directional control during landing roll. Factors were the loss of hydraulic pressure in the 'A' hydraulic system, the thrust reverser failure on the number one engine, and flight crew coordination not being maintained.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight crew said that when they raised the landing gear handle after takeoff, the master caution light illuminated as the result of the loss of 'A' system hydraulics. The captain declared an 'emergency' and preparations were made to land on runway 16L (12,004 feet by 150 feet). The first officer conducted the landing using 15 degrees of flaps and a landing speed of 140 knots. When he deployed the thrust reversers, the left thrust reverser malfunctioned resulting in asymmetrical braking thrust. The airplane's operations manual indicated that with the loss of 'A' hydraulic system and an airplane weight of 89,600 pounds, a landing speed of 156 knots should be used. Directional control during the landing roll would have been accomplished using rudder and differential braking because nose wheel steering would have been inoperable. The captain reported to the FAA Inspector and Frontier Airlines officials that during the landing roll, he took control of the airplane. Photographs taken at the incident scene indicated that after 8,000 feet of runway was used, the airplane's tire skid marks became significantly darker, with right two skid marks darker than the left two.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.