19980503012949I

Incident

FAA incident report · Boeing 747* · Seattle, WA · May 3, 1998

Date
May 3, 1998 · 19:00 local
Place
Seattle, WA
Airport
Seattle-Tacoma International
Phase of flight
Normal Cruise
Operating rules
Foreign air carrier (Part 129)
Operator
BRAF
Aircraft
GBDXD
Reported as
Boeing 747*
People aboard
4
Fatal injuries
0

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Narrative: aircraft departed sea for london approx. 400 miles out started to dutch roll, jettisoned fuel and returned to sea, landed without incident. Pilot reported flight controls aircraft dutch rolling in cruise, suspect both yaw dampers. Pilot's aviation safety report: during initial climb, cruise and subsequent descent, aircraft suffered roll oscillation with autopilot engaged and manual flight. Aircraft diverted back to ksea. Initially aircraft required two units of left rudder to keep from rolling. Then with a/p engaged started a roll oscillation. All three auto pilots tried. Both yaw dampers individually selected off with no improvement. Aircraft flown manually and was difficult to control in roll. Dumped fuel and diverted back to sea, handling no better on final. Both yaw damper computers changed. Aircraft returned to service.

As the FAA filed it

NARRATIVE: AIRCRAFT DEPARTED SEA FOR LONDON APPROX. 400 MILES OUT STARTED TO DUTCH ROLL, JETTISONED FUEL AND RETURNED TO SEA, LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT. PILOT REPORTED FLIGHT CONTROLS AIRCRAFT DUTCH ROLLING IN CRUISE, SUSPECT BOTH YAW DAMPERS. PILOT'S AVIATION SAFETY REPORT: DURING INITIAL CLIMB, CRUISE AND SUBSEQUENT DESCENT, AIRCRAFT SUFFERED ROLL OSCILLATION WITH AUTOPILOT ENGAGED AND MANUAL FLIGHT. AIRCRAFT DIVERTED BACK TO KSEA. INITIALLY AIRCRAFT REQUIRED TWO UNITS OF LEFT RUDDER TO KEEP FROM ROLLING. THEN WITH A/P ENGAGED STARTED A ROLL OSCILLATION. ALL THREE AUTO PILOTS TRIED. BOTH YAW DAMPERS INDIVIDUALLY SELECTED OFF WITH NO IMPROVEMENT. AIRCRAFT FLOWN MANUALLY AND WAS DIFFICULT TO CONTROL IN ROLL. DUMPED FUEL AND DIVERTED BACK TO SEA, HANDLING NO BETTER ON FINAL. BOTH YAW DAMPER COMPUTERS CHANGED. AIRCRAFT RETURNED TO SERVICE.