- Date
- March 15, 1993, 09:20 local (14:20 UTC)
- Place
- Newark, NJ
- Injuries
- 61 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N14212Boeing 737-130
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 10, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19930315011899I
- Case key
- 37242
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
Inadequate maintenance/inspection by company maintenance personnel, the manufacturer's inadequate inspection and/or replacement procedures for the aileron cables, and subsequent failure of the 'down' aileron control cable due to wear.
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
Immediately after lift-off, the airplane rolled left, but the pilot controlled the roll with right aileron. The left aileron was observed in a full up position. The captain elected to return & land at the airport. With snow on the run- way, he decided to use 15 degree wing flaps until 300', then extend the flaps to 30 degrees. He said he needed full right aileron to maintain control once the flaps were extended to 30 degrees. An exam revealed the left 'down' aileron cable (for down movement) had broken. Also, the left 'up' aileron cable & both right aileron cables were worn & were replaced. Metallurgical examination revealed numerous worn strands in the cables. A 'c' check/inspection of the aileron cables had been accomplished on 12/20/92 (580 flight hours before incident) via procedures. Procedures lacked details & no service life was established for aileron control cables. The 1968 model airplane had about 59,000 flight hours; no record of previous cable replacement was found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N14212
- Reported as
- Boeing 737-130
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19029
- Airframe hours
- 58,997
- Engine
- P&W JT8D, 14,500 horsepower, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Continental Airlines
- Registered owner
- Continental Airlines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · December 20, 1992 · 580 hours before
- Departed
- EWR
- Destination
- GSO · Greensboro, NC
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- EWR · Newark Intl, runway 22R, 9,300 × 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
- 58
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 29,600 total · 14,000 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 19 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.