- Date
- January 18, 1990, 19:04 local (Jan 19, 1990, 00:04 UTC)
- Place
- Atlanta, GA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious, 157 uninjured
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 1993
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting
- Investigation class
- Class 1
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA reports
- 19900118000712A19900118000711A
- Case key
- 15933
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
(1) Failure of the federal aviation administration to provide air traffic control procedures that adequately take into consideration human performance factors such as those which resulted in the failure of the north local controller to detect the developing conflict between N44UE and ea 111, and (2) the failure of the north local controller to ensure the separation of arriving aircraft which were using the same runway. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the north local controller to follow the prescribed procedure of issuing appropriate traffic information to ea 111, and failure of the north final controller and the radar monitor controller to issue timely speed reductions to maintain adequate separation between aircraft on final approach.
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
Drg arr at ngt, Beech A100 (king air, N44UE) was clrd for an ILS rwy 26R apch behind Continental flt 9687, then eastern airline (ea) flt 111 (Boeing 727, N8867E) was clrd for the same apch behind the king air. After lndg, flt 9687 had a radio problem & the twr ctlr had difficulty communicating with flt 9687. Meanwhile, the king air lndd & its crew had moved the acft to the rgt side of the rwy nr twy-d (the primary twy for gen avn acft). The turnoff for twy-d was abt 3800'FM the apch end of rwy 26R. Before the king air was clr of the rwy, ea 111 lndd & converged on the king air. The crew of ea 111 did not see the king air until moments bfr the acdnt. The capt tried to avoid a collision, but the Boeing's rgt wing struck the king air, shearing the top of its fuselage & cockpit. Some of the king air's strobe/beacon lgts were inop, though they most likely would have been extinguished for the IMC apch. The local ctlr did not issue a tfc adzy to ea 111 with the lndg clnc. (See: NTSB/AAR-91/03)
Aircraft · 2
- Registration
- N44UE
- Reported as
- Beech A100
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- B-140
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-28, 680 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Eps Air Service
- Departed
- Peachtree Arpt, GA
- Destination
- ATL · Atlanta, GA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ATL · Hartsfield-Atlanta Intl, runway 26R, 9,000 × 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.
- Registration
- N8867E
- Reported as
- Boeing 727
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20823
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-15, 15,500 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Eastern Airlines, doing business as Eastern Airlines
- Registered owner
- Wilmington Trust Co Trustee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- LGA · New York, NY
- Destination
- ATL · Atlanta, GA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ATL · Hartsfield-Atlanta Intl, runway 26R, 9,000 × 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N44UE
- Age
- 30
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,653 total
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N8867E
- Age
- 49
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 13,320 total · 7,432 in this make and model · 215 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 290° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 2
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.