- Date
- July 13, 1991, 09:08 local (16:08 UTC)
- Place
- Los Angeles, CA
- Injuries
- 12 minor, 215 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N111AAMcdonnell Douglas DC-10-10
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910713027499I
- Case key
- 27033
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
The failure of the number 2 engine's fire detection system, systron donner fire detector.
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 flight, the #2 engine fire detection light illuminated, and the captain declared an emergency. After returning to the departure airfield, an emergency landing was made, which was followed by an emergency slide evacuation of the crew and passengers. There was no damage to the aircraft or actual fire. An investigation of the engine's fire detection system revealed that a systron donner fire detector, pn 4361, had failed. The exact cause of the failure was not determined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N111AA
- Reported as
- Mcdonnell Douglas DC-10-10
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 46511
- Engine
- GE CF6-6, 40,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- American Airlines
- Registered owner
- American Airlines
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Destination
- BOS · Boston, MA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- LAX · Los Angeles International, runway 25, 10,285 × 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 57
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 23,000 total · 5,600 in this make and model · 234 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,400 ft overcast
- Observed at
- LAX, 1 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.
Other investigations on N111AA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.