- Date
- January 19, 1989, 20:15 local (Jan 20, 1989, 01:15 UTC)
- Place
- Atlanta, GA
- Injuries
- 111 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N509EABoeing 757-225
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Not reported
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 7927
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
The NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
Failure of operator maintenance personnel to accomplish an applicable service bulletin.
Analysis
During en route climb, inboard fixed wing panel over wheel well separated from acft. Boeing service bulletin had not been complied with regarding cracked fasteners which attached the wing panel to acft. Service difficulty rprts revealed same carrier had expereinced previous similar loss of the panel. Acft involved had not been modified in accordance with the service bulletin.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N509EA
- Reported as
- Boeing 757-225
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22199
- Engine
- GE CF6-80C, 40,550 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Eastern Air Lines
- Registered owner
- Eastern Air Lines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Destination
- LAX · Los Angeles, CA
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Not reported
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None