Aviation Accident Summaries

Aviation Accident Summary DCA97MA059

MIAMI, FL, USA

Aircraft #1

N27UA

Douglas DC-8-61

Analysis

: 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 :

Factual Information

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.

Probable Cause and 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.

 

Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database

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