NTSB CHI84IA314 — 1984-07-25 · MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, United States

N721RW has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (PIPER PA 46-350P, built 2021), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N721RW Boeing 727-2M7 None

Factual narrative

THE CREW REPORTED THAT THEY NOTICED A DECREASE IN CLIMB RATE WHILE OVER RAPID CITY, SD, EN ROUTE FROM MSP TO SFO AT FLT LEVEL 310. THE PLT NOTED FUEL BURN WAS APRX 1400 LBS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. IN-FLT INSPECTION REVEALED THAT THE INBOARD TRAILING EDGE FLAPS HAD FAILED TO RETRACT PROPERLY AFTER TAKEOFF AND REMAINED IN A 7 DEG DOWN POSITION. THE FLT RETURNEDTO MINNEAPOLIS AND LANDED AT 1540 CDT (APRX 50 MINS AFTER THE INCIDENT). A POST FLT INSPECTION DISCLOSED THAT THE INBOARD FLAP CONTROL VALVE HAD FAILED. THE FLT CREW SAID THAT THIS MALFUNCTION HAD OCCURRED ON A PREVIOUS FLT AND HAD BEEN REPORTED. THE FLAPS HAD GROUND CHECKED OK BOTH ON THIS & THE PREVIOUS OCCASION. THIS REPORTED FAILURE WAS CORRECTEDBY REPUBLIC AIRLINES MAINTENANCE BY REPLACEMENT OF A FLAP CONTROL VALVE AND INSPECTION OF THE RIGGING IN ACCORDANCE WITHBOEING MAINTENANCE MANUAL 27-51-51, AFTER THIS INCIDENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1984_CHI84IA314.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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