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Atlas / NTSB / FTW92IA010

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event FTW92IA010

1991-10-17 HOUSTON, Texas, United States Airport · IAH None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO ATTAIN PROPER RUNWAY ALIGNMENT PRIOR TO TOUCHDOWN AND HIS FAILURE TO INITIATE A GO AROUND TO REMEDY THE SITUATION. A FACTOR WAS THE LOW ALTITUDE AT WHICH HE INITIATED THE SIDE STEP MANEUVER FOR WHICH HE WAS CLEARED.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT ALLOWED THE RIGHT OUTBOARD ENGINE POD TO DRAG ON THE RUNWAY WHILE LANDING. THE INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT EXECUTED A ILS APPROACH TO RUNWAY 14 AND WHEN THEY WERE HANDED OVER TO THE TOWER, THEY REQUESTED A VISUAL APPROACH TO RUNWAY 8. THE TOWER CLEARED THE FLIGHT FOR THE SIDE STEP MANEUVER. THE CAPTAIN DELAYED INITIATING THE SIDE STEP MANEUVER UNTIL HE WAS 350 FEET AGL, AND BANKED THE AIRPLANE TO THE LEFT, ATTAINING A BANK OF 32.6 DEGREES, FOLLOWED BY 20.8 DEGREES BANK TO THE RIGHT AT 18 FEET AGL. FINAL APPROACH ALIGNMENT WAS NOT OBTAINED CAUSING THE ENGINE TO DRAG ON THE RUNWAY. A FIRE ERUPTED IN THE BOTTOM AFT SECTION OF THE ENGINE COWLING AS A RESULT OF A BROKEN FUEL FILTER DRAIN LINE. THE FIRE WAS EXTINGUISHED WITH ONBOARD FIRE SUPPRESSANTS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_FTW92IA010.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.