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DEN90IA189

1990-09-19 · DENVER, Colorado, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport DEN

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE FAILURE OF THE FLIGHT CREW TO FOLLOW EMERGENCY PROCEDURES/DIRECTIVES. FACTORS WERE THE FAILURE OF THE AIRCRAFT ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (RELAYS) AND THE FAILURE OF THE COMPANY TO PROVIDE A JETWAY OPERATOR.

Factual narrative

SHORTLY AFTER PUSHBACK IT WAS NOTICED THAT THE #2 ENG DOOR 2 RIGHT HANDLE WAS NOT FLUSH. THE ENG WAS SHUT DOWN AND GROUND MAINT PERSONNEL CLOSED THE DOOR FROM THE OUTSIDE. THE CABIN THEN BEGAN TO FILL WITH DENSE SMOKE. THE CAPTAIN, USING RADIO AND AN OPEN WINDOW, WAS UNSUCCESSFUL IN GETTING A JETWAY TO THE AIRPLANE, AND THE CREW AND PAX EXITED USING SLIDES. IT WAS LATER DETERMINED THAT THE BATTERY BUSS RELAY (R1) AND BATTERY TRANSFER RELAY (R2) HAD FAILED. THE AIRPLANE HAD BEEN PUSHED BACK AT GATE B-8, AND HAD RECEIVED CLEARANCE TO GATE B-20 FOR THE EVACUATION. THERE WAS NO JETWAY OPERATOR PRESENT, AND GROUND PERSONNEL ARE NOT CROSS-TRAINED TO OPERATE A JETWAY. WHEN THE #2 ENG WAS SHUT DOWN, THE ELECTRICAL TRANSFER SYSTEM PICKED UP THE LOAD. THE FLIGHTCREW DID NOT POWER THE RIGHT BUS FROM THE APU. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_DEN90IA189.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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