Boeing 737-400 N425US

Summary

On 31 August 2006 at about 17:20 local time, a Boeing 737-400 registered N425US, operated by US Airways, was involved in an incident near Miami, Florida, United States. 118 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 August 2006 at 17:20

Classification

Incident

Location

Miami, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Miami International Airport (KMIA)

Coordinates

25.7933, -80.2906

Aircraft

Boeing 737-400

Registration

N425US

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

US Airways

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Charlotte → Miami

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA06IA133

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadvertent application of the left brakes at touchdown. Contributing to the incident was insufficient information in the quick reference handbook on the loss of touchdown protection with an inoperative anti-skid system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

With the flightcrew aware that the anti-skid system was inoperative, the flight departed. Once near the destination airport, the flightcrew requested the longest runway for landing, which was granted. Prior to the landing, the flightcrew performed normal cockpit duties, and discussed the inoperative anti-skid system. About 2 seconds after touchdown, the left main tires blew. The local controller advised the flightcrew that the airplane was trailing smoke, and after the airplane came to a stop, the captain initiated an evacuation. Examination of the airplane revealed that the left main landing gear outboard and inboard tires, wheels, and brakes were ground away, and, other than the source of the inoperative anti-skid system warning, the examination did not reveal any failures or malfunctions. Examination of data retrieved from the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) did not reveal any system failures or malfunctions that would have affected the handling or braking characteristics of the airplane, except for the inoperative anti-skid system. With the anti-skid system disabled, the pilot flying could prematurely apply braking during touchdown causing a wheel to lock and the associated tires to blow. The quick reference handbook (QRH) stated that "after landing use minimum braking consistent with runway" and the minimum equipment list (MEL) stated "brake with caution." However, even though the QRH and MEL did provide general information, both documents did not provide specific information on the affects of an inoperative anti-skid system on spoiler deployment and/or touchdown protection.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.