- Date
- June 2, 1984, 06:54 local (10:54 UTC)
- Place
- Flushing, NY
- Injuries
- 66 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N855TWBoeing 727-31
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840602031729I
- Case key
- 35443
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
After takeoff flt attendant reported aft airstair partially open. Flt engineer checked & confirmed airstair open aprx 18 inches. Remedial action performed to no avail. Unscheduled landing performed without incident. As acft turned onto taxiway airstair contacted ground. Investigation disclosed, prior to dept maintenance supervisor placarded aft airstair warning lights in the cockpit 'inoperative.' Supervisor then made logbook entry 'airstairs checked up and locked.' Inspection revealed plunger on aft airstair bungee ass'y was bound inside its housing due to corrosion & dirt inside the bushing through which plunger slides. Maintenance min equip & dispatch proc which was performed was to verify uplatch mechanism engaged with uplock rollers on airstair. A non-valid twa acft maintenance bulletin stated the above process does not ensure the uplatch mechanism is locked and that the soft surfaces must be in contact to verify the crank arms are locked over-center.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N855TW
- Reported as
- Boeing 727-31
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18574
- Engine
- P&W UNK, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- Trans World Airlines, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Destination
- STL · St. Louis, MO
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- Jfk Int'L
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
- Commercial, Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LGA
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.