- Date
- September 28, 1990, 18:00 local (Sep 29, 1990, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Detroit, MI
- Injuries
- 2 serious, 2 minor, 128 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N278USBoeing 727-251
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 12, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900928065649A
- Case key
- 14555
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The intentional activation of the auxillary power unit by the flight engineer, and the improper evacuation procedures by the pilot in command. An associated factor in the accident was the APU circuit breakers were not pulled by company maintenance personnel.
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
Four passengers were injured during the emergency evacuation following an APU fire. The crew reported the APU fire bell while taxiing. The capt. elected to evacuate, but did not indicate the nature of the problem to either the cabin attendants or passengers. Several passengers used the overwing exits on the same side as the fire and were injured jumping off the wing. One said that the wing flaps were not lowered during the evacuation. The APU had been placarded inoperative prior to the flight. Crew advised in writing. The cockpit voice recorder tape was erased in the cockpit after the accident, so the flight crew's activities were not able to be reviewed. Post accident examination of the APU revealed that the fire started because of an attempted start of the defective unit. Prior to the flight, nwa maintenance attempted to make the APU inoperable from the cockpit by opening circuit breakers. The wrong circuit breaker was fulled, leaving the APU operable.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N278US
- Reported as
- Boeing 727-251
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2215F
- Airframe hours
- 37,173
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-15A, 15,500 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Northwest Airlines, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · September 27, 1990 · 6 hours before
- Departed
- YUL · Montreal
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- DTW · Detroit Metropolitan
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 13,500 total · 9,650 in this make and model · 5,000 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Observed at
- DTW
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 N278US · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.