McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10F N68056

Summary

On 18 April 1990 at about 11:33 local time, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10F registered N68056 was involved in an accident near Los Angeles, California, United States. 6 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

18 April 1990 at 11:33

Classification

Accident

Location

Los Angeles, California, United States

Nearest airport

Los Angeles Intl (LAX)

Coordinates

33.9504, -118.4009

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10F

Registration

N68056

Category

Airplane

Engines

3

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Memphis → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX90FA148

Nobody was injured.

PILOT FAILED TO ADHERE TO ESTABLISHED LANDING PROCEDURES, MAINTAIN A STABILIZED APPROACH, AND ALLOWED THE AIRSPEED TO GO BELOW THE PREDICTED V.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED FEDERAL EXPRESS (FEDEX) DOMESTIC CARGO FLIGHT WAS ROUTINE WHEN IT ARRIVED OVER LOS ANGELES FROM MEMPHIS. THE CAPT CONDUCTED A PRELANDING BRIEFING FOR THE IMPENDING VISUAL APPROACH TO RUNWAY 07L AT LAX. THE BRIEFING INCLUDED SETTING THE VREF SPEEDS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COMPANY FLIGHT OPERATIONS POLICY. THE COMPUTED VREF SPEED FOR LANDING AS 143 KNOTS; THE TOUCHDOWN SPEED WAS 138 KNOTS. THE PILOT FAILED TO MAINTAIN A STABILIZED APPROACH AND THE AIRSPEED DECREASED TO 138 KIAS WHEN CROSSING OVER THE THRESHOLD. FROM THAT POINT THE AIRSPEED BEGAN TO DECELERATE TO 122.3 KNOTS AT TOUCH DOWN WITH A PITCH ATTITUDE OF 11.1 DEG. AT TOUCHDOWN THE PITCH ATTITUDE CONTINUED TO INCREASE UNTIL THE TAILSTRICK OCCURRED AT A PITCH ATTITUDE OF 13.2 DEG. DFDR RECORDED DATA DISCLOSED THE CAPT RELAXED THE ELEVATOR CONTROL BACK PRESSURE BUT IT WAS NOT ENOUGH TO PREVENT THE TAIL STRIKE. THE FLT MANUAL RECOMMENDS THE PILOT TO LOWER THE NOSE UPON TOUCHDOWN TO COUNTERACT THE INCREASE IN PITCH ATTITUDE DUE TO GROUND SPOILER ACTIVATION.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.