- Date
- October 7, 1989, 18:50 local (22:50 UTC)
- Place
- Orlando, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 107 uninjured; on the ground: 1 fatal
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Pushback/towing
- Aircraft
- N958VJMcdonnell Douglas DC-9-31
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report July 29, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891007065869A
- Case key
- 32530
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
Inadequate weather evaluation and inadequate supervision of the ground guide (mechanic) by company/operator/management personnel, failure of the ground guide to follow safety procedures, and the weather condition (lightning).
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
Rainfall became moderate to heavy as the acft was being pushed back in preparation for flt. During that time, lightning struck the tail of the acft while a mechanic (ground guide) was wearing a headset connected to the acft. The lightning traveled thru the acft & fatally injured the mechanic. Witnesses & supervisors stated that they had observed lightning in the area before the acdnt, but they had not observed any for about 15 min; push back was initiated after phone conversation with tower psnl. The airline's safety manual prohibited ground guide opn during periods of observed lightning.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N958VJ
- Reported as
- Mcdonnell Douglas DC-9-31
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 47351
- Engine
- P&W JT8D, 14,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- US Air
- Registered owner
- Usair
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- MCO
- Destination
- PHL · Philadelphia, PA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- MCO · Orlando Intl
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12,800 total · 180 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 30° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MCO, 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.