DCA84AA012

NTSB accident investigation · Douglas DC-9-31 · Sioux Falls, SD · December 20, 1983

Accident · FatalFinal report
Date
December 20, 1983, 13:17 local (19:17 UTC)
Place
Sioux Falls, SD
Injuries
1 fatal, 2 minor, 84 uninjured; on the ground: 1 fatal
Damage
Substantial damage
Phase of flight
Landing
Aircraft
N994ZDouglas DC-9-31
Weather
Instrument (IMC) · Day
Status
Completed
Report
Approved by Office Director
NTSB office
Major Investigations Division
FAA report
19831220065129A
Case key
15800

From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.

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.

On ground/water collision with objectLanding - roll
Weather condition - snowFactor
Weather condition - obscurationFactor
Control tower service - inadequateAtc personnel(lcl/gnd/clnc)Cause
Object - vehicleFactor

Analysis

During landing the crew acquired visual reference with the ground & apch lights about 200 ft AGL, followed by visual sighting of the rwy. Since the ATIS reported blowing snow, the crew expected to see, & was not surprised to see, snow blowing across the rwy about 2,000 ft beyond the threshold. At about 2,200 ft down the rwy the acft entered a cloud of snow, & the right wing struck a large snow sweeping vehicle which was traveling in the same direction & to the right of the rwy centerline. The acft's right wing separated & it swerved off the rwy. Neither the approach controller nor the local controller advised the flt of snow removal operations, nor did the local controller communicate with the sweeper after he took the hand-off of the flt from approach control. He also stated he did not know where the sweeper was when he cleared the flt to land.

Aircraft

Registration
N994Z
Reported as
Douglas DC-9-31
Category
Airplane
Serial number
47097
Engine
P&W JT8D-7, turbo fan
Damage
Substantial damage
Fire
On-Ground
Flight
Part 121
Registered owner
Ozark Air Lines, Inc
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Transport
Departed
SUX · Sioux City, IA
Flight plan
IFR
Airport
KF3D · Joe Foss Field, runway 3, 8,999 × 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
58
Certificate
Airline transport
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
Instrument ratings
Airplane
Medical
Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
Seat
Left
Flight hours
25,217 total · 9,776 in this make and model

Weather

Conditions
Instrument (IMC) · Day
Wind
70° at 9 knots
Lowest ceiling
1,000 ft
Temperature
-9 °F, dew point -0 °F
Altimeter
30.00 inHg

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 N994Z · 1

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.