McDonnell Douglas MD-82 N934AS

Summary

On 5 February 1999 at about 15:10 local time, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 registered N934AS, operated by Alaska Air Group, Inc, was involved in an incident near Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. 138 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

5 February 1999 at 15:10

Classification

Incident

Location

Fairbanks, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Fairbanks International (FAI)

Coordinates

64.8000, -147.8661

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas MD-82

Registration

N934AS

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Alaska Air Group, Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fairbanks → Anchorage

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC99IA027

Nobody was injured.

The restricted/delayed movement of the elevator flight control due to extremely cold weather conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The crew of a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 airplane, reported a partial flight control malfunction during takeoff. The captain stated that during the takeoff roll, the airplane's nose failed to rise as he applied aft control yoke pressure. When he applied an excessive amount of aft control yoke pressure, the nose rotated slowly, and the airplane assumed the desired pitch angle for takeoff. Prior to the incident flight, the incident airplane remained parked outside, overnight. During the night the air temperature went below minus 50 degrees F. Following the incident, the airplane underwent an extensive inspection and evaluation of the flight control system, with no flight control anomalies discovered by company maintenance personnel. The NTSB's FDR readout showed that during the initial phase of the incident takeoff roll, both elevators remained in a down position. As the takeoff roll progressed and the airspeed approached 150 knots, both elevators responded to the pilot's control column inputs, and the nose of the airplane rotated. The pilot's control column position was not a recorded parameter of the incident airplane’s FDR.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.