# Incident 20000817026129I: Fokker F28MK0100, Norfolk, VA, August 17, 2000

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: August 17, 2000, 15:10 local time
- Place: Norfolk, VA
- Phase of flight: Descent
- Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
- Operator: USAA
- Location: 36.8468° N, 76.2852° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Norfolk, VA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.8468&lon=-76.2852&mi=10
- Aircraft: N860US, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N860US-2004-08-23) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Fokker F.28 MK 0100 (registry code 4990807, https://openairdocs.org/model/fokker-f-28-mk-0100) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Rolls-Royce TAY-650-15 (registry code 54557, https://openairdocs.org/engine/rolls-royce-tay-650-15) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: FOKKER F28MK0100
- Reported engine: RROYCE TAY65015
- People aboard: 58
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 11,661 total, 5,399 in this make and model
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB NYC00IA231](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC00IA231) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20000817026129I

## Narrative

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

(-23) ON 8/17/2000 AT 1522 EDT, A U.S. AIRWAYS FLIGHT 471 WAS ENROUTE FROM LGA TO RIC, WHEN FLIGHT 471 DIVERTED TO ORF AND LANDED ON RUNWAY 05 AFTER THE LEFT ENGINE THRUST REVERSER DEPLOYED AND THE LEFT ENGINE WAS SHUTDOWN DURING DESCENT. THE ARFF RESPONDED AND THE A/C TAXIED TO THE RAMP WITHOUT INCIDENT. EA21 WAS NOTIFIED BY CAMACHO/ROO. THE SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION INVOLVING THE NTSB, USAA ENGINEERING, FOKKER ENGINEERING, REVEALED THAT THE LEFT ENGINE THRUST REVERSER (T/R), MADE AN UNCOMMANDED DEPLOYMENT WHEN THE THROTTLE LEVER WAS RETARDED BELOW MINIMUM FLIGHT THRUST. PRELIMINARY DETAILS FROM THE FLIGHT DATA RECORDER DOWN LOAD SHOWS THAT THE T/R FULLY DEPLOYED FOR APPROX. 50 SECONDS, THEN WAS IN TRANSIT, NOT DEPLOYED AND NOT STOWED STATE, FOR ANOTHER 35 SECONDS. PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION DETERMINED THAT THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR FLIGHT/GROUND SWITCH HAD AN INTERNAL FAILURE. THIS RESULTED IN THE SWITCH COMPLETING THE WEIGHT ON WHEELS CIRCUITRY WHILE THE A/C WAS IN FLIGHT. SEE ADDITIONAL ATTACHED SHEETS (.4) DURING DECENT FOR LANDING, THE FLIGHT CREW EXPERIENCED A TEMPORARY INADVERTENT DEPLOYMENT OF THE LEFT ENGINE THRUST REVERSER. THE FLIGHT CREW DEC              LARED AN EMERGENCY AND DIVERTED TO A NEARBY AIRPORT, WHERE THE AIRPLANE LANDED WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. EXAMINATION OF THE THRUST REVERSER CONTROL SYSTEM REVEALED THAT IF THRUST LEVER WAS MOVED AGGRESSIVELY TO THE AFT STOP, THE LEFT ENGINE'S THRUST REVERSER SWITCH COULD ACTUATE. ADDITIONALLY, FAULTS WERE OBSERVED IN LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR GROUND/FLIGHT (G/F) SWITCH, AND THE LEFT ENGINE THRUST REVERSER DEPLOY SWITCH. AFTER THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR G/F SWITCH AND THE THRUST LEVER SWITCHBOX WERE REPLACED, THE AIRPLANE'S THRUST REVERSER SYSTEM TESTED "OK."

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB NYC00IA231](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC00IA231), Aug 17, 2000: Fokker F-100 (N860US), Norfolk, VA, incident, no damage. Probable cause: The failure of the airplane's ground/flight switch and a malfunction of the thrust reverser deploy switch, which resulted in an in-flight thrust reverser deployment.

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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