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NYC91FA086

1991-03-12 · JAMAICA, New York, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport JFK

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

IMPROPER PREFLIGHT PLANNING/PREPARATION, IN THAT THE FLIGHT ENGINEER MISCALCULATED (MISJUDGED) THE AIRCRAFT'S GROSS WEIGHT BY 100,000 LBS AND PROVIDED THE CAPTAIN WITH IMPROPER TAKEOFF SPEEDS; AND IMPROPER SUPERVISION BY THE CAPTAIN. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: IMPROPER TRIM SETTING PROVIDED TO THE CAPTAIN BY THE FLIGHT ENGINEER, INADEQUATE MONITORING OF THE PERFORMANCE DATA BY THE FIRST OFFICER, AND THE COMPANY MANAGEMENT'S INADEQUATE SURVEILLANCE OF THE OPERATION.

Factual narrative

BFR FLT, THE FLT ENG (F/E) HAD CALCULATED 'V' SPDS & HORIZONTAL STABILIZER TRIM SETTING FOR TAKEOFF, BUT NEITHER THE CAPT NOR THE 1ST OFFICER (F/O) HAD VERIFIED THEM. DRG ROTATION FOR TAKEOFF, THE CAPT NOTED THAT THE FORCED NEEDED TO PULL THE YOKE AFT WAS GREATER THAN NML & THAT THE ACFT WOULD NOT FLY (AT THAT SPD). SUBSEQUENTLY, HE ABORTED THE ATMTD TAKEOFF. REALIZING THE ACFT WOULD NOT STOP ON THE REMAINING RWY, HE ELECTED TO STEER IT TO THE RGT TO AVOID HITTING TFC ON A HWY NR THE DEP END. THE ACFT STRUCK ILS EQUIP; THE LNDG GEAR COLLAPSED & ALL 4 ENGS TORE AWAY. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE. INV REVEALED THE F/E HAD IMPROPERLY COMPUTED THE TAKEOFF DATA. HE HAD CALCULATED THE 'V' SPDS & HORIZONTAL STABILIZER TRIM SETTING FOR 242,000 LBS; HOWEVER, THE ACTUAL TAKEOFF WT WAS 342,000 LBS. ROTATION SPD (VR) FOR THIS WT WAS 28 KTS ABV THE SPD THAT WAS USED. INV REVEALED SHORTCOMINGS IN THE OPERATOR'S FLIGHTCREW TRAINING PROGRAM & QUESTIONABLE SCHEDULING OF QUALIFIED (BUT MARGINALLY EXPERIENCED) CREW MEMBERS FOR THE ACDNT FLT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_NYC91FA086.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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