- Date
- January 9, 1988, 06:15 local (12:15 UTC)
- Place
- Minneapolis, MN
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N618USBoeing 747-251F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed · report January 25, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 13983
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
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
Aircraft experienced a loss of aileron ctl when ice formed around aileron control cables and restricted their movement. Water draining through open plenum drains in the main landing gear wheel well froze when exposed to below freezing temperatures at 35,000 ft. the flight crew was able to regain limited control by using very heavy control inputs. The acft was landed uneventfully after diverting to the nearest suitable airport. Maintenance personnel reported that the drains were inadvertently left open.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N618US
- Reported as
- Boeing 747-251F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21122
- Engine
- P&W JT-9, 19,500 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Northwest Airlines
- Registered owner
- Northwest Airlines Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- JFK · New York, NY
- Destination
- SEA · Seattle, WA
- 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
- Age
- 45
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 19,190 total · 1,320 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg