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DCA92MA025

1992-03-22 · FLUSHING, New York, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LGA

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE FAILURE OF THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY AND THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION TO PROVIDE FLIGHTCREWS WITH PROCEDURES, REQUIREMENTS, AND CRITERIA COMPATIBLE WITH DEPARTURE DELAYS IN CONDITIONS CONDUCIVE TO AIRFRAME ICING AND THE DECISION BY THE FLIGHTCREW TO TAKE OFF WITHOUT POSITIVE ASSURANCE THAT THE AIRPLANE'S WINGS WERE FREE OF ICE ACCUMULATION AFTER 35 MINUTES OF EXPOSURE TO PRECIPITATION FOLLOWING DEICING. THE ICE CONTAMINATION ON THE WINGS RESULTED IN AN AERODYNAMIC STALL AND LOSS OF CONTROL AFTER LIFTOFF. CONTRIBUTING TO THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT WERE THE INAPPROPRIATE PROCEDURES USED BY, AND INADEQUATE COORDINATION BETWEEN, THE FLIGHTCREW THAT LED TO A TAKEOFF ROTATION AT A LOWER THAN PRESCRIBED AIRSPEED. (NTSB REPORT AAR-93/020)

Factual narrative

PLEASE SEE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD BLUE COVER REPORT AAR-93/02 FOR DETAILS. THE AIRPLANE HAD BEEN DEICED 2 TIMES BEFORE LEAVING THE GATE. HOWEVER, 35 MINUTES HAD ELAPSED BETWEEN THE 2ND DEICING & TAKEOFF DURING WHICH TIME ICE ACCUMULATED ON THE WING. THIS TIME PERIOD EXCEEDED THE TYPE I DEICING FLUID SAFE HOLDOVER TIME (11 MIN). THE 1ST OFFICER CALLED VR 11 KTS EARLY, AND THE CAPT ROTATED ABOUT 5 KTS EARLY. AFTER LIFTOFF THE AIRPLANE STALLED AND CAME TO REST PARTIALLY INVERTED AND SUBMERGED IN THE BAY. AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT, THE OPERATOR DID NOT REQUIRE A SPECIFIC EXTERIOR INSPECTION FOR ICE CONTAMINATION OF F-28 AIRPLANES DURING PERIODS OF FREEZING PRECIPITATION. ACCIDENT HISTORY SHOWS THAT NONSLATTED, TURBOJET, TRANSPORT-CATEGORY AIRPLANES HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF TAKEOFF ACCIDENTS WHERE UNDETECTED UPPER WING ICE CONTAMINATION HAS BEEN CITED AS THE PROBABLE CAUSE OR SOLE CONTRIBUTING FACTOR. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_DCA92MA025.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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