Delta Air Lines Flight 1086

Delta Air Lines flight 1086

The MD-88 aircraft rests on the seawall after veering off the runway and skidding across the airfield for over a thousand feet, destroying approximately 940 feet of perimeter fence.
Accident
Date	5 March 2015 (2015-03-05)
Summary	Runway excursion resulting in collision with seawall and perimeter fence; cause is currently under investigation
Site	LaGuardia Airport, Queens, New York 40°07′52″N 73°01′05″W
Total fatalities	0
Total injuries	24
Total missing	0
Total survivors	132 (all)
The aircraft involved in the accident seen in Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport on January 2015.
Aircraft type	Boeing/McDonnell-Douglas MD-88
Operator	Delta Air Lines
Registration	N909DL
Flight origin	Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Destination	LaGuardia Airport, New York, New York, USA
Passengers	127
Crew	5
Fatalities	0
Injuries	24
Survivors	132

Crash site

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Location of the crash site in the USA

Delta Air Lines Flight 1086 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight between Atlanta and New York's LaGuardia Airport. On March 5, 2015, the McDonnell Douglas MD-88 aircraft veered off the runway shortly after landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The plane ran up the seawall berm and struck the perimeter fence, sliding along it for approximately 940 feet (290 m) before coming to rest with the nose of the aircraft hanging over the berm above Flushing Bay. There were no fatalities, although 24 people suffered minor injuries. The aircraft was seriously damaged. The cause of the crash is currently under investigation by the NTSB, with weather conditions and mechanical failures possibly contributing to the accident.

LaGuardia International Airport. The approach end of runway 13 is at the bottom-center of the photo.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a McDonnell Douglas MD-88, registration number N909DL, serial number 49540, line number 1395. It was owned by the Wilmington Trust Company of Wilmington, Delaware, and operated by Delta Airlines. The aircraft was assembled in 1987, and first registered on January 19, 1988. It has been operated by Delta Airlines ever since the aircraft was put into airline service. It was built at the Douglas plant in Long Beach, California. The aircraft had 71,195.54 flight hours and 54,865 flight cycles at the time of the accident. The aircraft's last major maintenance was on September 22, 2014, in Jacksonville, FL. This was part of the aircraft's regularly scheduled maintenance program, and included tests of the autobrake, anti-skid and auto-spoiler systems. The aircraft's last overnight service check was completed March 2, 2015 in Tampa, FL.

As of March 2015, Delta Air Lines operated 117 MD-88s. The average age of these aircraft is 24.2 years, and they are the oldest aircraft type in Delta's fleet.

Background

Flight 1086 took off from Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport at 8:45am EST, and was scheduled to land at LaGuardia Airport at 10:48 am. LaGuardia Airport was under falling snow and freezing fog conditions at the time of arrival, with the captain reportedly telling passengers that weather problems could cause a delay. Another Delta Air Lines MD-88 had landed on runway 13 about 3 minutes prior to flight 1086. The pilots of this preceding flight confirmed that air traffic controllers relayed the braking action reports to the flight crew of Delta 1086; these reports were based on pilot reports from two other flights that landed several minutes prior to flight 1086. Both earlier flights had reported the braking action on the runway as "good." Statements by the pilots to the NTSB after the crash revealed that the runway appeared all white (covered with snow) when the airplane descended out of the overcast, moments before landing.

Accident

The aircraft was approaching runway 13 to land on what appeared to be a normal final approach. The autopilot remained engaged until the aircraft was about 230 feet (70 m) above ground level, and airspeed during the final approach was about 140 knots (160 mph), and 133 knots (153 mph) at touchdown. Upon landing, the MD-88 veered off the left side of the runway shortly after touchdown, about 3,000 feet (910 m) from the approach end of the runway, on a heading approximately 10 degrees left of the runway heading. The MD-88 skidded left across the snowy airfield until about 4,100 feet (1,200 m) from the approach end of the runway, when the aircraft ran up the berm and the left wing struck the airport perimeter fence. It then was forced back onto a heading parallel with runway 13, and continued sliding in this direction for another 900 feet (270 m) along the perimeter fence, before coming to rest about 5,000 feet (1,500 m) from the approach end of runway 13, with the nose of the aircraft hanging over the berm. The left wing of the aircraft destroyed approximately 940 feet (290 m) of airport perimeter fence.

The aircraft sustained significant structural damage. There was major damage to the left wing's leading edge, leading edge slats, trailing edge flaps, and spoilers. The left wing fuel tank was breached near the outboard end of the outboard flaps. The front radome and weather radar were heavily damaged, and damage to the underside of the fuselage extended from the front of the aircraft all the way back to the left front passenger door. The nose landing gear well and the main electronics bay also were damaged.

The crew of the plane managed a quick and complete evacuation, while the aircraft was leaking fuel. Twenty-three or twenty-four passengers received minor injuries, but all injured passengers had been sent home from the hospital by March 9, 2015.

The airport was closed immediately after the accident at approximately 11:00 am. Runways were reopened beginning at 2:30 pm. Runway 13 was closed until the 10:30 am the next morning as emergency services cleared the accident site and the aircraft was removed into a hangar. Several passengers took pictures and videos of the aircraft and site after the accident; these were quickly circulating on the internet shortly after the accident.

Investigation

As of March 9, 2015, NTSB investigators are examining and testing the antiskid, autobrake, and thrust reverser systems on the aircraft. The autobrake selector switch in the cockpit was found in the "max" position. The tailcone handle in the main cabin had been actuated, presumably for evacuation purposes, and the rear tailcone had detached.

Initial statements given by the pilots to the NTSB reveal a number of factors that may have contributed to the accident. The pilots stated they based their decision to land on braking action reports of "good," which they received from air traffic control before landing (based on reports given by aircraft landing immediately before them). The runway appeared "all white" to the pilots when they broke out of the overcast, indicating it was covered with snow. Upon landing, the pilots noted that the automatic spoilers did not deploy to slow the aircraft as they should have, but the first officer quickly deployed them manually. Also, the autobrakes were set to "max," but the pilots did not sense any wheel brake deceleration. The captain also reported that he was unable to prevent the airplane from drifting left.

According to a Wall Street Journal article published March 9, 2015, "pilots and other safety experts have long known that when the MD-88's reversers are deployed, its rudder...sometimes may not be powerful enough to control deviations to the left or right from the center of a runway...safety board investigators, among other things, are looking to see if this tendency played any role in the crash."

As of March 6, 2015, the NTSB reported that the cockpit voice recorder was successfully downloaded, and contained two hours of good quality recordings and captured the entire flight. Also, the flight data recorder (a 25-hour tape-based recorder) was examined and found to have captured the entire flight and approximately 50 parameters of data, including airspeed, altitude, heading, and information on engines and flight controls, among other data. As of March 9, 2015, an NTSB meteorologist is examining the weather conditions at the time of the accident, to determine if weather was a contributing factor to the accident. The NTSB is also analyzing and developing the transcript of the cockpit voice recorder.

Passenger count

People on board by nationality

Nationality	No.
Canada	2
Brazil	1
United States	129
Total	132

NFL player Larry Donnell for the New York Giants was also onboard DL1086.