- Date
- March 13, 1993, 16:27 local (22:27 UTC)
- Place
- Chicago, IL
- Injuries
- 103 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N895USFokker 100
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 10, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19930313007309I
- Case key
- 15595
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
Failure of the company station manager to follow proper dispatch procedures, and ice accumulation on the nose gear locking mechanism. Factors related to the incident were: wet snow (slush) on the runway at the departure airport, and inadequate design which allowed ice to render the nose gear downlock system inoperative.
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
Down & locked indication of nose gear was not achieved for landing. Crew recycled gear, used alternate gear extension system & made a fly-by. After being told gear appeared to be extended, crew landed, but nose gear collapsed at end of landing roll. Right main outboard tire also blew-out during landing due to frozen brake. Investigation revealed nose- wheel well was susceptible to ice contamination. Nose gear down lock plunger was frozen & would not extend to down & locked position. At departure airport, slush had accumulated on nose gear down lock & froze. Use of alternate extension system would have dumped the 500 PSI hydraulic pressure that normally assisted in holding gear in extended position. Usair procedures stated that takeoff should not be made if slush or wet snow in excess of 1/2 inch covered runway. At least 1 inch of wet snow & slush was reported on departure runway, 22 minutes before departure; however, acting station manager did not follow usair procedures that required reporting this to dispatcher & captain of flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N895US
- Reported as
- Fokker 100
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 11380
- Airframe hours
- 2,293
- Engine
- Rolls-Royce TAY650-15, 15,100 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Usair, doing business as Usair
- Registered owner
- Wilmington Trust Company
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · March 13, 1993
- Departed
- CLT · Charlotte, NC
- Destination
- ORD
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ORD · O'Hare Int'L, runway 4R, 8,071 × 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
- 36
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 20 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 19 °F, dew point 3 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ORD, 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.