- Date
- June 27, 1984, 23:34 local (Jun 28, 1984, 03:34 UTC)
- Place
- Portland, ME
- Injuries
- 2 minor, 121 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N417PEBoeing 737-130
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840627039019I
- Case key
- 35445
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
Captain heard loud 'pop' and observed an electrical panel interruption along with illumination of rt 'bus off' & 'gen off bus' lights. No generator amps or freqs were observed. Faint odor of smoke. Capt started APU and put APU generator on rt side. 'Bus off' light extinquished. Within a minute, smoke level increased. Capt removed APU & called for electrical smoke and fire checklist. Emergency landing performed during which all 4 main gear tires failed. Crew & pax performed emergency evacuation. Inspection of acft disclosed the failure in the generator control unit occurred in a capacitor installed in the circuit. Failure of the #2 generator control unit rendered the anti-skid system inop resulting in the tire failures.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N417PE
- Reported as
- Boeing 737-130
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19794
- Airframe hours
- 49,429
- Engine
- P&W JT8D9, 14,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- People Express
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- EWR · Newark, NJ
- Destination
- PWM · Portland, ME
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PWM · Portland, runway 11, 6,800 × 150 ft, macadam
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
- 37
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 200° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PWM
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.