NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DCA97MA059
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The airplane being misloaded to produce a more aft center of gravity and a correspondingly incorrect stabilizer trim setting that precipitated an extreme pitch-up at rotation, was (1) the failure of Fine Air to exercise operational control over the cargo loading process; and (2) the failure of Aeromar to load the airplane as specified by Fine Air. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to adequately monitor Fine Air's operational control responsibilities for cargo loading and the failure of the FAA to ensure that known cargo-related deficiencies were corrected at Fine Air.
Factual narrative
On August 7, 1997, a Douglas DC-8-61 freighter, Fine Air cargo flight 14, crashed after departure from runway 27R at Miami IAP, Miami, FL. The flight was operated under 14 CFR Part 121 as a supplemental air carrier. The three crewmembers and one security guard onboard were killed. One individual in an automobile on the ground was also killed. The airplane was destroyed by impact and postcrash fire. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. See NTSB/AAR-98/02 for details. : On August 7, 1997, at 1236 eastern daylight time, a Douglas DC-8-61, N27UA, operated by Fine Airlines Inc. (Fine Air) as flight 101, crashed after takeoff from runway 27R at Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida. The three flightcrew members and one security guard on board were killed, and a motorist was killed on the ground. The airplane was destroyed by impact and a postcrash fire. The cargo flight, with a scheduled destination of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, was conducted on an instrument flight rules flight plan and operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a Supplemental air carrier. Prior to takeoff, the airplane was misloaded to produce a more aft center of gravity and a correspondingly incorrect stabilizer trim setting. This precipitated an extreme pitch-up at rotation. Because of the incorrect stabilizer trim setting the pilots could not gain adequate control of the airplane before it struck the ground : Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1997_DCA97MA059.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
Implications of equipping a DC-8-61 fleet with RNAV/two-segment approach avionics
Due to the costs of implementing two-segment approaches with special purpose computers, and the fact that such systems rely on special ground equipment not generally in use today, it is useful to cons…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Description and flight performance of two systems for two-segment approach
This paper describes two different avionic systems which were designed and developed to provide guidance and control for two-segment noise abatement approaches.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
Flight evaluation of two-segment approaches using area navigation guidance equipment
A two-segment noise abatement approach procedure for use on DC-8-61 aircraft in air carrier service was developed and evaluated.
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