Boeing 757-223 N611AM

Summary

On 22 December 1989 at about 06:34 local time, a Boeing 757-223 registered N611AM, operated by American Airlines, was involved in an accident near Santa Ana, California, United States. 111 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 December 1989 at 06:34

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Ana, California, United States

Nearest airport

Orange County (SNA)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Boeing 757-223

Registration

N611AM

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

American Airlines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dallas/Ft Worth → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX90LA055

Nobody was injured.

THE COPILOT'S OVERROTATION OF THE AIRCRAFT DURING THE FLARE WHICH ALLOWED THE TAIL TO COLLIDE WITH THE RUNWAY. THE FAILURE OF THE CAPTAIN TO TAKE APPROPRIATE CORRECTIVE ACTION WAS A FACTOR IN THE ACCIDENT.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE TAIL OF A BOEING 757 STRUCK THE RUNWAY DURING A VISUAL NIGHT LANDING AT THE ORANGE COUNTY AIRPORT. THE FLIGHT DATA RECORDER INDICATED A PITCH ATTITUDE OF 11.074 DEGREES FOR TWO SECONDS AT TOUCHDOWN. THE BOEING COMPANY STATED THE MAXIMUM PITCH AT TOUCHDOWN SHOULD NOT EXCEED 10.3 DEGREES. THIS WAS THE CAPTAIN'S FIRST NIGHT TIME FLIGHT INTO ORANGE COUNTY AIRPORT IN THIS TYPE OF AIRCRAFT. AIRCREWS CERTIFIED IN THE BOEING 767 AIRCRAFT ARE ALSO QUALIFIED IN THE BOEING 757 AIRCRAFT. AS OF FEBRUARY, 1990, THERE HAVE BEEN 27 KNOWN TAIL STRIKES IN THE 767 AND 51 TAIL STRIKES IN THE 757 AIRCRAFT DURING THE TAKEOFF AND LANDING PHASES OF FLIGHT.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.