- Date
- February 15, 1983, 20:29 local (Feb 16, 1983, 01:29 UTC)
- Place
- Miami, FL
- Injuries
- 74 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N8831EBoeing B-727-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19830215072779I
- Case key
- 30826
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
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 gear retraction after takeoff, the aircrew noted that the left main landing gear (MLG) door warning light remained illuminated. The landing gear control was cycled, but the condition was not corrected. Attempts to extend the left MLG were also unsuccessful. During tower fly-by's, the aircrew were advised that the nose & right MLG were down; however, the left MLG was only partially extended & the left MLG door was in an aprx 45 deg position. Subsequentlya wheels up landing was made. After being hoisted, the left MLG was found hanging down & wedged on the door. All gear were extended & the acft was towed from the rwy. An exam revealed no discrepancies except the left mgl door actuator mounting bolts & a serrated fitting were loose. The system malfunction could not be duplicated. The acft was equipped with an original production MLG safety bar to prevent interference between the door & gear during emergency extension without hyd pressure. However, it was not designed to withstand door closing pressures (hyd & air).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8831E
- Reported as
- Boeing B-727-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20150
- Airframe hours
- 38,712
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-7, 14,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Eastern Airlines
- Registered owner
- Ona Leasing, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · January 10, 1983 · 17 hours before
- Departed
- PBI · West Palm Beach, FL
- Destination
- JFK · Jamaica, NY
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- MIA · Miami International, runway 9R, 13,002 × 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
- 49
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12,353 total · 2,725 in this make and model · 143 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 220° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MIA
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.