McDonnell Douglas MD-88 N974DL

Summary

On 22 April 2003 at about 18:52 local time, a McDonnell Douglas MD-88 registered N974DL was involved in an accident near Denver, Colorado, United States. 61 people were on board and one 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

22 April 2003 at 18:52

Classification

Accident

Location

Denver, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Denver International (DEN)

Coordinates

39.8583, -104.6669

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas MD-88

Registration

N974DL

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Denver → Cincinnati

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN03FA070

1 person had minor injuries.

the flight crew's failure to maintain aircraft control, which resulted in engine start with the throttles advanced and the subsequent impact with the tug. Contributing factors include, the flight crew's improper procedures/directives and failure to re-accomplish the before start checklist, the captain's diverted attention, the manufacturer's inadequate MEL procedures, the manufacturer's insufficiently defined conditions/steps, and the tug.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to Delta Air Lines, the airplane arrived at 0951. The airplane was scheduled to depart at 1100, but was delayed due to the previous flight crews' report of a take off slat warning light indication problem. A maintenance check was completed and pushback for the next flight occurred at 1206. At 1224, while the crew was completing the pre-take off checks during the taxi, the captain reported another take off slat warning light indication problem. Maintenance requested that the captain return the airplane to the gate so a technician could reexamine the fault. At 1241, a maintenance technician assessed the problem and stated to the captain that "were gonna [sic] have to mess up with your takeoff condition here and you know after we do this, you're not supposed to move anything." The captain stated "right." The maintenance check procedures required that "either or both" engine throttles to be advanced to verify the operation of the warning horn. The operation of the system was verified and the slats were set in the takeoff configuration. During the entire maintenance check, the captain and first officer remained seated. At 1251, the first officer called for and received pushback clearance. The engines were started during pushback, and the captain stated that "prior to the engine start sequence, I did not direct re-accomplishment of the before start checklist." The captain said "the pushback and initial stages of the engine start sequence appeared normal." However, shortly after engine start and with the tug still attached, the airplane began to move forward under its own power. At that time, the captain noticed that the throttles were still advanced. The captain and first officer both reached to pull the engine throttles back to idle, but the airplane had moved forward enough to cause the tug and tow bar to jackknife to the left, striking the airplane and leaving a 4-foot long gash in the fuselage. The captain shut down the engines, secured the cockpit, and assessed the situation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.