# NTSB DCA94MA038: Mcdonnell Douglas MD-82, N18835, Flushing, NY, March 2, 1994 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Minor injuries · Class 1 · Major · Final report - Date: March 2, 1994, 17:59 local (22:59 UTC) - Place: Flushing, NY - Coordinates: 40.769416, -73.870567 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.7694&lon=-73.8706&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Takeoff](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/300) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Minor injuries - Injuries: 30 minor, 86 uninjured - Status: Completed, report April 12, 1995 - Report: Board-adopted at Board Meeting - Investigation class: Class 1 - NTSB office: Major Investigations Division - Safety recommendations: Yes - NTSB case key (mKey): 10983 - NTSB case page: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/DCA94MA038.aspx - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/10983/pdf - Board report AAR9501 (PDF): https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR9501.pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DCA94MA038 ## Probable cause THE FAILURE OF THE FLIGHTCREW TO COMPLY WITH CHECKLIST PROCEDURES TO TURN ON AN OPERABLE PITOT/STATIC HEAT SYSTEM, RESULTING IN ICE AND/OR SNOW BLOCKAGE OF THE PITOT TUBES THAT PRODUCED ERRONEOUS AIRSPEED INDICATIONS, AND THE FLIGHTCREW'S UNTIMELY RESPONSE TO ANOMALOUS AIRSPEED INDICATIONS WITH THE CONSEQUENT REJECTION OF TAKEOFF AT AN ACTUAL SPEED OF 5 KNOTS ABOVE V1. (NTSB REPORT AAR-95/01) ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Overrun, takeoff - aborted - checklist - not complied with, flightcrew (cause) - anti-ice/deice system - not used, flightcrew (cause) - weather condition - snow (contributing factor) - weather condition - temperature,low (contributing factor) - pitot/static system - obstructed (contributing factor) - aborted takeoff - delayed, flightcrew (cause) - abort above v1 - performed, flightcrew ## Analysis THE AIRPLANE RAN OFF THE END OF THE RUNWAY DURING A REJECTED TAKEOFF, COMING TO REST ON A DIKE AND A TIDAL MUD FLAT. FDR DATA CONFIRMED THAT THE PITOT HEAT HAD NOT BEEN SELECTED 'ON' BY THE FLIGHTCREW. A BUILDUP OF SNOW AND/OR ICE IN THE PITOT/STATIC SYSTEM TUBES AND PORTS RESULTED IN ERRONEOUS AIRSPEED READINGS DURING THE ATTEMPTED TAKEOFF. SUBSTANTIAL DEVIATIONS FROM CHECKLIST PROCEDURES WERE RECORDED ON THE CVR. 19 SECONDS ELAPSED BETWEEN THE TIME THAT THE AIRPLANE ACTUALLY ACCELERATED THROUGH 60 KIAS (THE FIRST MARK ON THE AIRSPEED INDICATOR) AND THE START OF THE REJECTED TAKEOFF. ## Factual narrative On March 2, 1994, at 1758 eastern standard time, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, N18835, operated by Continental Airlines as flight 795, sustained substantial damage during an aborted takeoff at La Guardia Airport in Flushing, New York (LGA). Of the 116 persons on board the airplane, two were flight crewmembers, four were cabin crewmembers, and 110 were passengers. There were seven minor injuries during the accident sequence and evacuation. A special weather observation, made about 5 minutes after the accident, found the weather as drifting snow conditions, with an indefinite ceiling at 500 feet, obscured, with the wind out of 050 at 23 knots. The flight was to have been from LGA to Denver Stapleton International Airport, Colorado (DEN). During the attempted takeoff on runway 13, the first officer was at the controls. The captain, seeing that the airspeed indication was not increasing normally, but remained low, elected to abort by pulling back on the throttles, entering reverse thrust , and taking control of the airplane. The airplane came to rest pitched downward, so that the nose of the airplane rested on a mud flat of the Flushing Bay Tidal, which at the time of the accident, was above the waterline. ## Aircraft - Registration: N18835 (not matched to a registry record) - Reported make and model: MCDONNELL DOUGLAS MD-82 - Category: Airplane - Serial number: N18835 - Airframe hours: 23448 - Engines: P&W JT8D-217A 20850 lbs thrust turbo jet - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Part 121 - Operator: Continental Airlines - Registered owner: Continental Airlines - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Transport - Last inspection: Continuous airworthiness, April 5, 1993, 3,153 hours before - Destination: DEN, DENVER, CO - Flight plan: IFR - Airport: LGA, Laguardia, runway 13, 7,000 × 150 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 57; commercial, flight engineer, airline transport; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: left; toxicology performed; flight hours: 23,000 total, 6,000 in this make and model ## Weather - Conditions: Instrument (IMC), Night/dark - Wind: 50° at 23 knots - Visibility: 0.5 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 500 ft - Temperature: 28 °F, dew point 27 °F - Altimeter: 30.00 inHg - Observed at: LGA ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19940302047139A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19940302047139A), Mar 2, 1994: Doug DC982, New York, NY, Substantial damage. Overran runway after aborting takeoff. Stopped in mud flat. Failed use pitot heat. Ice caused erroneous readings. From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.