- Date
- February 15, 1992, 03:26 local (08:26 UTC)
- Place
- Swanton, OH
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N794ALDouglas DC-8-63
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 16, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- FAA report
- 19920215003069A
- Case key
- 15955
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 failure of the flightcrew to properly recognize or recover in a timely manner from the unusual aircraft attitude that resulted from the captain's apparent spatial disorientation, resulting from physiological factors and/or a failed attitude director indicator. (NTSB report AAR-92/05)
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 first officer had made two ILS approaches, but, for undetermined reasons, failed to properly capture the ILS localizer and/or glideslope. During the second missed approach, the captain assumed control of the airplane; however, he apparently became spatially disoriented, and inadvertently allowed an unusual attitude to develop with bank angles up to 80 deg and pitch angles up to 25 deg. The first officer assumed control and began leveling the wings and raising the nose of the airplane, but impact occurred before the unusual attitude recovery was completed. The operability of the captain's attitude director indicator at the time control was lost is uncertain.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N794AL
- Reported as
- Douglas DC-8-63
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 45923
- Airframe hours
- 4,889
- Engine
- P&W JT3D-7, turbo fan
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 121
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · February 13, 1992 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- SEA · Seattle, WA
- Destination
- TOL · Toledo, OH
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- TOL · Toledo Express, runway 7, 10,600 × 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.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 59
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 16,382 total · 2,382 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 90° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 400 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TOL
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 N794AL · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.