McDonnell Douglas MD-80 N462AA

Summary

On 25 September 2003 at about 11:50 local time, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 registered N462AA, operated by American Airlines Inc, was involved in an incident near Dfw, Texas, United States. 94 people were on board and 8 had minor injuries. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 September 2003 at 11:50

Classification

Incident

Location

Dfw, Texas, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas MD-80

Registration

N462AA

Category

Airplane

Operator

American Airlines Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

NTSB number

DCA03IA058

8 people had minor injuries.

The improper maintenance of the tailcone evacuation system, which prevented the evacuation slide from inflating during an evacuation due to smoke/fumes in the cabin.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airliner experienced fumes and smoke in the cabin after powering back from the gate. The airplane was about 200 feet from the jetway when the captain initiated an emergency evacuation. The airplane was not damaged, and 8 of the 89 passengers sustained minor injuries during the evacuation. During the emergency evacuation, the tailcone slide deployed but did not automatically inflate. An off-duty flight attendant reported that she attempted to manually inflate the slide but that she could not locate the red manual inflation handle on the slide's girt. She observed a small metal ring near where the red manual inflation handle should have been located and tried unsuccessfully to inflate the slide numerous times by pulling on that ring. The off-duty flight attendant then blocked the tailcone exit and directed passengers to other exits. The investigation revealed an improperly rigged cable assembly due to improper maintenance of the tailcone evacuation system by the airline. Additionally, other slides were found with similar problems. The slide manufacturer, Air Cruisers, had issued a service bulletin (SB) to address the problem. On May 10, 2004, the Safety Board issued two recommendations (A-04-42 and -43) to the FAA to expeditiously issue an airworthiness directive to require operators to implement the SB on an accelerated schedule and not wait for the slides' next regularly scheduled maintenance interval, and to require operators that are operating airplanes with the affected slides inflation cables that have been improperly modified to include a manual inflation cable handle with a key ring, to reinstall new, unmodified inflation cables at the next scheduled maintenance opportunity.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.