Skip to content

FTW89IA070

1989-03-23 · HOUSTON, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport HOU

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

CREW'S FAILURE TO FOLLOW TAXI INSTRUCTIONS AND TO INSURE THAT THEY WERE ON THE PROPER RUNWAY PRIOR TO INITIATION OF THE TAKEOFF ROLL.

Factual narrative

THE AIRPLANE WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF ON RUNWAY 12R, BUT A TAKEOFF WAS MADE ON RUNWAY 17. THE SOUTH 2,200 FEET OF RUNWAY 17 WAS CLOSED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION. THIS WAS NOTED BY NOTAMS AND ATIS AND THE CREWMEMBERS WERE AWARE OF IT. AS THE AIRPLANE ROTATED, THE LOWER PARTS OF IT IMPACTED SECTIONS OF WOODED BARRIERS THAT HAD BEEN PLACED ACROSS RUNWAY 17. THE CREW WAS IMFORMED OF POSSIBLE DAMAGE AND PROCEEDED TO DESTINATION WHERE EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT WAS WAITING AT LANDING. AIRPLANE DAMAGE WAS MINOR. SEVENTY THREE DAYS PRIOR TO THIS INCIDENT, ANOTHER AIR CARRIER AIRPLANE WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF ON RUNWAY 12R AND ALSO INADVERTENTLY DEPARTED ON RUNWAY 17. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_FTW89IA070.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type. All research papers