- Date
- July 26, 2002, 05:37 local (09:37 UTC)
- Place
- Tallahassee, FL
- Injuries
- 3 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N497FEBoeing 727-232
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report October 28, 2004
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting
- Investigation class
- Class 1
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 20020726030569A
- Case key
- 55303
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 captain's and first officer's failure to establish and maintain a proper glidepath during the night visual approach to landing. Contributing to the accident was a combination of the captain's and first officer's fatigue, the captain's and first officer's failure to adhere to company flight procedures, the captain's and flight engineer's failure to monitor the approach, and the first officer's color vision deficiency.
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
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-04/02.
On July 26, 2002, at 0537 eastern daylight time, a FedEx Boeing 727, N497FE, crashed during landing at Tallahassee, Florida. The airplane was operating as Flight 1478 from Memphis, Tennessee, to Tallahassee. The airplane crashed short of the runway, and was subsequently destroyed by fire. All three crewmembers were seriously injured.
Factual narrative
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-04/02.
On July 26, 2002, at 0537 eastern daylight time, a FedEx Boeing 727, N497FE, crashed during landing at Tallahassee, Florida. The airplane was operating as Flight 1478 from Memphis, Tennessee, to Tallahassee. The airplane crashed short of the runway, and was subsequently destroyed by fire. All three crewmembers were seriously injured.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N497FE
- Reported as
- Boeing 727-232
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20866
- Airframe hours
- 37,980
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney JT8D-15, 15,500 lbs thrust, turbo jet
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- Federal Express Corp
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport; Standard, Normal
- Departed
- NE64 · Memphis, NE
- Destination
- TLH · Tallahassee, FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- TLH · Tallahassee Regional Airport, runway 09, 8,000 × 150 ft, asphalt
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 120° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 9 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- TLH, 1 nm away
Docket · 184
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 10, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 102 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.