- Date
- December 5, 1987, 09:55 local (14:55 UTC)
- Place
- Deptford, NJ
- Injuries
- 67 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N319AUBoeing 737-2B7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 24, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19871205079069I
- Case key
- 35992
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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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
Drg tkof, as usair flt 224 was clbg thru 4000', the acft yawed/rolled rgt. Simultaneously, the crew noticed the #2 throttle slam/lock to the idle psn & a continuous airframe buffet began. Soon thereafter, the #2 eng sepd fm the acft & the buffet stopped. The eng impacted in an open fld, 6 mi fm the arpt. Just bfr it sepd, a pax saw the aft end of the #2 eng momentarily droop about 30 deg. After eng sepn, the 'b' hyd sys lost pres & the te flaps would only extd 10 deg. The acft was lndd safely after an emerg gear extn & differential braking was used for steering. An exam revealed the aft mount cone bolt for the #2 eng had failed fm fatigue thru the thread relief undercut radius. Fatigue cracks had initiated on diametrically opposite sides of the radius. Subsequently, the fwd mount cone bolts & secondary support cable failed from overload.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N319AU
- Reported as
- Boeing 737-2B7
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22887
- Airframe hours
- 12,845
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-15A, 15,500 horsepower, turbo fan
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- Usair
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · December 5, 1987 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- PHL
- Destination
- BOS · Boston, MA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PHL · Philadelphia Intl, runway 27L, 10,499 × 200 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 33
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12,000 total · 956 in this make and model · 8,633 as pilot in command · 200 in the last 90 days · 70 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PHL
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.