Boeing 727-230 N357KP

Summary

On 28 June 2005 at about 01:18 local time, a Boeing 727-230 registered N357KP, operated by Capital Cargo International, was involved in an accident near San Diego, California, United States. 3 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

28 June 2005 at 01:18

Classification

Accident

Location

San Diego, California, United States

Nearest airport

San Diego International (SAN)

Coordinates

32.7336, -117.1897

Aircraft

Boeing 727-230

Registration

N357KP

Category

Airplane

Engines

3

Operator

Capital Cargo International

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Diego → Denver

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05LA218

Nobody was injured.

the inadvertent throttle movement by one of the flight crew and the captain's inadequate supervision during the engine start sequence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane surged forward and impacted a tug when the number 2 engine went to full power during engine start. According to the flight crew's written statements, the captain had written up the number 2 thrust reverser following the previous flight because it required extra effort and movement to reach normal reverse thrust. Maintenance personnel adjusted the rigging and released the aircraft for service. The flight crew informed maintenance that they would verify the rigging after engine start. The airplane was pushed back and the flight crew started the number 1 and 2 engines with no anomalies noted. They were in the process of starting the number 3 engine, when they heard a loud roar of an engine and felt the airplane lunge forward. The flight engineer announced the number 2 throttle was open and pulled the throttle lever to idle. The captain applied brake pressure and called for engine shutdown. According to the captain, he did not notice the number 2 throttle move forward because he was looking at the ground crew for a brake signal. The copilot did not observe the number 2 throttle move forward because he was concentrating on starting the number 3 engine and examining the oil pressure gauges for the number 1 and 2 engines. The flight engineer indicated that he had not noticed the number 2 throttle movement because he was looking at his panel to confirm that the number 2 start valve had closed and the number 3 start valve had opened. He then monitored the oil pressure when he heard the engine spooling up to high power followed by the movement of the airplane. A cockpit voice recorder was installed on the accident airplane, but review of the recording revealed that the engine start and accident had been recorded over. Mechanics examined the engine and throttle control rigging after the accident under the supervision of a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector. According to the mechanics and the airworthiness inspector, no anomalies were noted with the throttle's rigging. Subsequent engine runs were unsuccessful in duplicating the engine surge. The airplane was not equipped with an autothrottle system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.