DCA87IA015

NTSB incident investigation · ATR ATR-42 · Detroit, MI · December 18, 1986

Incident · No injuriesIncident investigationFinal report
Date
December 18, 1986, 08:59 local (13:59 UTC)
Place
Detroit, MI
Injuries
41 uninjured
Damage
No damage
Phase of flight
Approach
Aircraft
N423MQATR ATR-42
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Completed · report June 7, 1989
Report
Approved by Office Director
NTSB office
Major Investigations Division
FAA report
19861218081799I
Case key
15866

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

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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.

In flight encounter with weatherApproach
Weather condition - icing conditionsFactor
Wing - iceFactor
Anti-ice/deice system - improper use ofPilot in commandCause
Inadequate transition/upgrade trainingOther personCause
Information unclearManufacturerFactor
Loss of control - in flightApproach - faf/outer marker to threshold (ifr)
Airspeed - reduced
Autopilot/flight director - disconnected
Stall - inadvertentPilot in commandCause
Altitude deviation,uncontrolledApproach - faf/outer marker to threshold (ifr)

Analysis

Drg arr, the flt was vectored for an ILS rwy 3R apch. At that time, ATIS info indcd mod mixed icing in clds. The capt rprtd the acft entered the cloud tops at 5500', was in the clds aprx 5 min & accumulated abt 1.5' of rime ice. He statedice accumulation was rapid, so they decided to wait until they were in the clr to cycle the boots to prevent bridging. After intercepting the ILS glide slope on a coupled apch, the acft was slowed to extd the gear & flaps. A call for 'flaps 15' was made & aprx 3 sec later, the autoplt disconnected as the acft was dscndg thru abt 1900' AGL at aprx 146 KTS. At aprx the same time frame, the de-ice boots were cycled as the acft broke out of wx & the acft went out of ctl. It entered bank oscillations (up to 44 deg) & abruptly lost abt 500' before the crew rcvrd, but they lndd successfully. Inv revealed the recently trained crew didn't get sufficient training in use of de-ice equip fm company instructors, whowere trained at the factory. After this incident, the manufacturer revised the flt manual to provide more specific info.

Aircraft

Registration
N423MQ
Reported as
ATR ATR-42
Category
Airplane
Engine
P&W PW-120, 1,800 horsepower, turbo prop
Damage
No damage
Flight
Part 121
Registered owner
Simmons Airlines
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Transport
Departed
TVC · Traverse City, MI
Flight plan
IFR
Airport
DTW · Detroit Metro, runway 3R, 10,000 × 150 ft, asphalt

Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

Role
Pilot
Age
31
Certificates
Airline transport, Commercial
Airplane ratings
Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
Instrument ratings
Airplane
Medical
Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
Seat
Left
Flight hours
3,965 total · 61 in this make and model · 1,770 as pilot in command

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
300° at 8 knots
Visibility
6 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
1,000 ft broken
Temperature
36 °F, dew point 30 °F
Altimeter
29.00 inHg
Observed at
DTW, 8 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.