# Incident 19981021045479I: Boeing 737401, Philadelphia, PA, October 21, 1998

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: October 21, 1998, 17:54 local time
- Place: Philadelphia, PA
- Airport: Philadelphia International
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Level Off Touchdown
- Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
- Operator: USAA
- Location: 39.8721° N, 75.2407° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at PHILADELPHIA INTL (PHL), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=39.8721&lon=-75.2407&mi=10
- Aircraft: N405US (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: BOEING 737401
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 11,577 total, 6,764 in this make and model, 193 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19981021045479I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(-5) ON OCTOBER 21, 1998, AT APPROXIMATELY 17:54 EDT, A BOEING B-737-401 AIRCRAFT, OPERATED BY US AIRWAYS AS FLIGHT 165 EXPERIENCED MINOR DAMAGE AND BECAME DISABLED DUE TO A FAILED NOSE LANDING GEAR TORQUE LINK WHILE LANDING ON RUNWAY 27R AT PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (PHL). VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT. THE FLIGHT WAS CONDUCTED UNDER 14 CFR PART 121 AND ORIGINATED FROM BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (BWI). CRASH FIRE RESCUE VEHICLES RESPONDED AS A PRECAUTION, BUT WERE NOT NEEDED SINCE NO INJURIES TO PASSENGERS OR CREW ENSUED AND NO EMERGENCY EVACUATION WAS REQUIRED. THE AIRCRAFT WAS TOWED TO THE PASSENGER TERMINAL WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. SUBSEQUENT ON SITE INVESTIGATION DETERMINED THAT THE LOWER NOSE GEAR TORQUE LINK AT CRACKED HORIZONTALLY ACROSS THE CASTING AND BECAME SEPARATED, CAUSING THE UPPER TORQUE LINK AND THE REMAINDER OF THE ATTACHED LOWER TORQUE LINK TO FLY UP INTO THE AIRCRAFT LOWER FUSELAGE. THIS RESULTED IN LOSS OF NOSE WHEEL STEERING AND FURTHER DAMAGE TO THE LOWER TCAS ANTENNA AND ANTENNA DOUBLER PLATE LOCATED AFT OF THE NOSE GEAR WELL, JUST FORWARD OF THE E&E BAY. P/N NUMBER OF THE FAILED NOSE        LANDING GEAR TORQUE LINK IS BOEING P/N:65-45288-14CPT-1238. THE CREW DID NOT REPORT A HARD LANDING, HOWEVER THE FLIGHT DATA RECORDER WAS REMOVED FOR DATA TRANSCRIPTION. THIS ANALYSIS DID NOT YIELD ANY ABNORMALITIES RELATED TO A HARD LANDING. THE AIRCRAFT WAS RETURNED TO SERVICE AFTER REPAIRS WERE MADE. THIS INCLUDED THE REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF THE ENTIRE NOSE GEAR ASSEMBLY, P/N:65-73762-21, S/N "OFF". XC91724, S/N "ON". XC90033. ADDITIONAL STRUCTURAL REPAIRS WERE MADE TO THE TCAS DOUBLER PLATE AND REPLACEMENT OF THE TCAS ANTENNA IN ACCORDANCE WITH US AIRWAYS ENGINEERING AUTHORIZATION 62818 AND ENGINEERING ORDER 5389717. THE FAILED TORQUE LINK WAS SENT FOR ANALYSIS BY ENGINEERING AND THE CARRIER'S CERTIFICATE MANAGEMENT UNIT IS FOLLOWING UP ON THOSE RESULTS. AEA-FSDO-17 CONSIDERS THIS INVESTIGATION CLOSED.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft 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. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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