McDonnell Douglas MD-82 N16894

Summary

On 26 September 2004 at about 16:00 local time, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 registered N16894, operated by U.S. Marshals Service, Dept. of Justice, was involved in an incident near Anchorage, Alaska, United States. 131 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

26 September 2004 at 16:00

Classification

Incident

Location

Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Ted Stevens Anchorage Intl. (PANC)

Coordinates

61.1794, -149.9833

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas MD-82

Registration

N16894

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

U.S. Marshals Service, Dept. of Justice

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Seattle

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC04IA115

Nobody was injured.

The loss of engine power due to the flight crew's failure to follow published procedures and directives, and an inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in ice ingestion into the left engine during the takeoff roll. Factors associated with the incident were icing conditions and ice on the wings.

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 loss of engine power during the takeoff roll. The crew aborted the takeoff, and discovered that the left engine had sustained foreign object impact damage. The airplane had remained parked outside overnight prior to the incident flight, and heavy wet snow/slush was in the parking area and on the taxiway at the time of departure. The captain reported that she did not request to have chemical de-icing done during the preflight, since the outside air temperature was above freezing at the time of departure. The captain reported that there were no signs of ice on the wings during the early morning preflight. A maintenance technician visually inspected both engine inlets for any accumulation of debris prior to departure. The incident airplane was not equipped with an inboard, over-wing heater blanket system, but was equipped with a series of non-skid strips and tuft triangular decal/symbols, that aid crews in performing a preflight tactile inspection of the upper inboard wing surface. The operator's safety officer reported that the crew did not perform a tactile inspection of the upper wing surfaces prior to the incident departure. The MD-80 flight crew operating manual states: "Clear ice can also form on wing upper surface when cold-soaked fuel is in the main wing fuel tanks and the airplane is exposed to conditions of high humidity, rain, drizzle, or fog at ambient temperatures well above freezing." A weather observation at the time of the incident consisted of: Sky conditions and ceiling, 200 feet, few, 600 feet, overcast; visibility, 10 statute mile; wind, 290 degrees at 8 knots; temperature, 37 degrees F; dew point, 37 degrees F.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.