- Date
- November 10, 1990, 10:22 local (16:22 UTC)
- Place
- Memphis, TN
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N322PXSaab-Scania 340A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901110056669I
- Case key
- 8340
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 pilot's failure to follow approved procedures for troubleshooting inflight maintenance problems and improperly used the flight and engine controls.
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
No passengers were on the airplane when it departed Memphis. The flight was uneventful until the captain felt a vibration on the left side and believed that the propeller was the origin. He asked the first officer (fo) had he ever seen the propeller in feather; the fo said no. the captain instructed the fo to go into the passenger cabin and look at the left propeller in feather. Seconds later the airplane started a series of violent gyrations, which threw him and the flight attendant against the interior of the cabin. After losing several thousand feet from 11,000 feet, the flight crew managed to regain control of the airplane and landed without further incident. A review of the event and the reported vibration felt only by the captain, failed to reveal a mechanical problem which would have produced a vibration. The procedures employed by the captain were not in accordance with FAA or company approved directives.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N322PX
- Reported as
- Saab-Scania 340A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 0041
- Engine
- GE CT7-5A2, 1,735 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Heleasco Twenty Four, Inc., doing business as Northwest Airlink
- Destination
- GTR · Columbus, MS
- Flight plan
- IFR
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 32
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 5,020 total · 2,800 in this make and model · 250 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- 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.