- Date
- December 8, 1989, 12:55 local (17:55 UTC)
- Place
- Tallahassee, FL
- Injuries
- 34 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N404EAMcdonnell Douglas DC-9-51
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891208064309I
- Case key
- 32574
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
Failure of the first officer to properly align the aircraft for landing, and the captain's delay in taking remedial action.
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
The first officer, who was flying the ILS approach, never established the airplane on the centerline and 'chased' the localizer needle. The captain took control of the airplane about 250 feet AGL and attempted a side step maneuver. The airplane touched down in a left bank and the left wing tip struck the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N404EA
- Reported as
- Mcdonnell Douglas DC-9-51
- Category
- Airplane
- Airframe hours
- 37,533
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-17, 16,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- Eastern Airlines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- ATL · Atlanta, GA
- Destination
- TLH
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- TLH · Tallahassee, runway 27, 8,000 × 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
- 47
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12,224 total · 3,084 in this make and model · 2,330 as pilot in command · 157 in the last 90 days · 88 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TLH
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.