McDonnell Douglas MD 88 N909DL

Summary

On 5 March 2015, a McDonnell Douglas MD 88 registered N909DL, operated by Delta Air Lines, was involved in an accident near New York, New York, United States. 132 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

5 March 2015

Classification

Accident

Location

New York, New York, United States

Nearest airport

La Guardia (LGA)

Coordinates

40.7783, -73.8697

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas MD 88

Registration

N909DL

Category

Airplane

Year built

1987

Operator

Delta Air Lines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Atlanta → New York

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DCA15FA085

Nobody was injured.

the captain's inability to maintain directional control of the airplane due to his application of excessive reverse thrust, which degraded the effectiveness of the rudder in controlling the airplane's heading. Contributing to the accident were the captain's (1) situational stress resulting from his concerns about stopping performance and (2) attentional limitations due to the high workload during the landing, which prevented him from immediately recognizing the use of excessive reverse thrust.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

NTSB investigators traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report. The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-16/02. On March 5, 2015, at 1102 eastern standard time, Delta Air Lines flight 1086, a Boeing MD-88, N909DL, was landing on runway 13 at LaGuardia Airport, New York, New York, when it departed the left side of the runway, contacted the airport perimeter fence, and came to rest with the airplane's nose on an embankment next to Flushing Bay. The 2 pilots, 3 flight attendants, and 98 of the 127 passengers were not injured; the other 29 passengers received minor injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged. Flight 1086 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121. An instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.