- Date
- March 26, 1985, 16:45 local (Mar 27, 1985, 00:45 UTC)
- Place
- Reno, NV
- Injuries
- 41 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N85ASMcdonnell Douglas DC-9-14
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 40071
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Analysis
After a ground time of 36 minutes during rain/wet snow the aircraft departed Reno. During the climb in below freezing conditions the crew experienced elevator pitch control difficulties which persisted until the descent into seattle. Examination of the elevators revealed water within the inboard section of both assemblies and missing sealant material on the upper surface of the left elevator panel.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N85AS
- Reported as
- Mcdonnell Douglas DC-9-14
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 45711
- Airframe hours
- 34,276
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-7B, 14,000 lbs thrust, turbo jet
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- All Star Airlines,Inc., doing business as Manchester Airport
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · March 16, 1985 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- RNO · Reno, NV
- Destination
- SEA · Seattle, WA
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- 52
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Commercial, 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
- 14,000 total · 2,100 in this make and model · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 800 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RNO