- Date
- March 12, 1986, 07:17 local (13:17 UTC)
- Place
- Memphis, TN
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor, 68 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N877AABoeing 727-223
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 3, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19860312009099A
- Case key
- 7073
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
American airlines flight 502 experienced a fire warning light illumination on no. 1 engine as the aircraft was climbing through 6000 feet. The pilot declared an emergency and returned to Memphis. Following the landing the pilot ordered a passenger emergency evacuation. During the evacuation the rear slide deflated after the slide material was punctured. The examination of the material disclosed that the puncture was the result of a shoe heel. The examination of the fire warning system disclosed that a duct connector in the system had failed. The injury received by the injured passenger resulted from jumping off the left wing surface during the evacuation phase.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N877AA
- Reported as
- Boeing 727-223
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21389
- Airframe hours
- 22,453
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-9A, 14,500 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- American Airlines, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Memphis, TN
- Destination
- Nashville, TN
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- MEM · Memphis, runway 17R, 9,300 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 53
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 11,670 total · 5,450 in this make and model · 117 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Observed at
- MEM
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.