Boeing 727-233 N277FE

Summary

On 20 November 2001 at about 06:27 local time, a Boeing 727-233 registered N277FE was involved in an accident near Memphis, Tennessee, United States. 5 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 November 2001 at 06:27

Classification

Accident

Location

Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

Memphis International (MEM)

Coordinates

35.0594, -90.0831

Aircraft

Boeing 727-233

Registration

N277FE

Category

Airplane

Engines

3

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Colorado Spring → Memphis

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

MIA02LA023

Nobody was injured.

The inadvertent collision with birds while on final approach to land resulting in substantial damage to the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flightcrew reported that while on final approach for runway 9 at Memphis, at between 1,700 and 2,000 feet agl, at 250 knots, they encountered a flock of large birds. A bird penetrated the airplane under the captains windshield and bird remains entered the cockpit. They continued to Memphis and landed without further incident. Inspection of the airplane by an FAA inspector after landing showed damage to the area below the captain's windshield and two areas of damage on the right inboard wing area, due to bird strikes. Radar data from the FAA, Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center, showed the flight was at about position 35 degrees, 3 minutes, 34 seconds North latitude, and 90 degrees, 4 minutes, 59 seconds West longitude, or about 6 nautical miles west of Memphis International Airport, at the time of the encounter. The FAA, Memphis Approach Control, personnel stated that the Automatic Terminal Information Service, information Romeo was in effect at the time of the accident which contained the 2353 surface weather observation, and that there was no bird activity reported in this information. Examination of feathers recovered from the cockpit and wing area of the aircraft was performed by personnel at The Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. The feathers were identified as coming from a Snow Goose, with an average weight for this species of 2,450 grams.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.