- Date
- December 30, 1989, 19:01 local (Dec 31, 1989, 02:01 UTC)
- Place
- Tucson, AZ
- Injuries
- 10 minor, 123 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N198AWBoeing 737-204
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report October 7, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891230054269A
- Case key
- 26604
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
Failure of the operator's maintenance personnel to detect an electrical wire which had chafed against a hydraulic line and which eventually arced causing a leak in the hydraulic line and subsequent fire and hydraulic system failure. In addition, previous wear of check valves in the backup hydraulic systems prevented the airplane from stopping on the runway. A contributing factor was the airplane manufacturer's inadequate guidance for maintaining the hydraulic components.
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
During approach, a fire erupted in the wheel well of the 22-YR old airplane. The fire burned thru the hydraulic lines rendering the a, b, & standby hyd systems inop. The crew landed the airplane using the emergency manual reversion flight control system. However, the airplane was unable to stop on the runway because of the previous failures of the check valves in the backup hyd accumulator pressure systems for the #2 thrust reverser and the inboard pair of wheel brakes. During the 2 min rollout, the airplane traversed 14,000 ft, overran the rwy end, and collided with a concrete structure which collapsed the nose gear. The airplane had recently undergone a 'c' check during which the operator's mechanics failed to observe & repair an electric wire which had been chafing against a hyd line. On the accident flt the energized wire arced, punctured the line, & ignited the escaping hyd fluid. The hyd check valves had failed earlier due to mechanical wear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N198AW
- Reported as
- Boeing 737-204
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19710
- Airframe hours
- 62,466
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-9A, 14,500 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- Both
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- America West Airlines, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Aviation Sales Company, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- PHX · Phoenix, AZ
- Destination
- TUS · Tucson, AZ
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- TUS · Tucson Int'L, runway 29R, 10,994 × 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
- 33
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 10,600 total · 3,970 in this make and model · 8,290 as pilot in command · 217 in the last 90 days · 58 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 260° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TUS
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.