- Date
- June 7, 1990, 22:24 local (Jun 8, 1990, 02:24 UTC)
- Place
- Atlanta, GA
- Injuries
- 96 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N8943EDouglas DC-9-31
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900607027159I
- Case key
- 8159
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
Inadequate maintenance inspection by operator personnel which resulted in operation of the tire while under-inflated.
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
At rotation the flight crew noted a bang & a vibration. The left engine lost power & was shut down. A single engine landing was completed at the departure airport. Investigation revealed that the no. 2 tire ruptured during the take off roll. Tire debris entered the engine. The tire had been recapped once 7 days prior & installed on the airplane 2 days prior. The airplane had received two daily service inspections on the day prior & the morning of the incident. The inspection requires tire pressure checks with a gauge. Two other recent tire blowout incidents on take off were found to have resulted from under-inflation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8943E
- Reported as
- Douglas DC-9-31
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 47166
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-7B, 14,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Eastern Air Lines, Inc.
- Destination
- TLH · Tallahassee, FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ATL · William B. Hartsfield, runway 27L, 9,000 × 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
- 46
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 8,126 total · 3,567 in this make and model · 2,782 as pilot in command · 250 in the last 90 days · 82 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 280° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ATL, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N8943E · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.