NTSB CHI91IA062 — 1991-01-07 · KANSAS CITY, Missouri, United States

N396UA has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (ZIPLINE INTERNATIONAL INC P2 ZIP), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N396UA Boeing 737-322 None

Probable cause & findings

IMPROPER USE OF THE THROTTLES, AND FAILURE TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL BY THE FIRST OFFICER. FACTORS RELATED TO THE INCIDENT ARE: ICE ON THE RUNWAY, LACK OF TOTAL EXPERIENCE IN THE TYPE AIRCRAFT AND OPERATION BY THE FIRST OFFICER, AND INADEQUATE SUPERVISION BY THE CAPTAIN.

Factual narrative

THE FIRST OFFICER HAD CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT FOR TAKEOFF ON ICE COVERED RUNWAY. AFTER THE THROTTLES WERE ADVANCED FOR TAKEOFF, THE AIRCRAFT ROLLED STRAIGHT AHEAD FOR APPROXIMATELY 2 SECONDS, THEN BEGAN TO SLIDE TO THE LEFT. THE CAPTAIN TOOK CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT BUT COULD NOT MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL, OR STOP THE AIRCRAFT. THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED THE LEFT SIDE OF THE RUNWAY AND CAME TO A STOP IN THE MUD AND SNOW. AN EMERGENCY EVACUATION WAS CONDUCTED. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT ON APPLICATION OF POWER FOR TAKEOFF, THE RIGHT ENGINE HAD A 10% GREATER N1 THAN THE LEFT ENGINE. THE FIRST OFFICER WAS ON HIS INITIAL OPERATING EXPERIENCE IN THE AIRCRAFT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_CHI91IA062.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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