Boeing 737-300 N306AW
17 March 1990 · Santa Ana, California, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 17 March 1990 at about 00:57 local time, a Boeing 737-300 registered N306AW, operated by America West Airlines, was involved in an accident near Santa Ana, California, United States. 110 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.
The record
- Date
- at 00:57
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Santa Ana, California, United States
- Nearest airport
- John Wayne (SNA)
- Coordinates
- 33.6708, -117.8997
- Aircraft
- Boeing 737-300
- Registration
- N306AW
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 2
- Operator
- America West Airlines
- Operating rule
- Part 121: Air Carrier
- Purpose of flight
- Unknown
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Unknown → Las Vegas
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- LAX90LA122
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110 |
Probable cause
THE PILOT'S IMPROPER ROTATION DURING TAKEOFF.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
THE AIRPLANE SUSTAINED A TAIL STRIKE DURING ROTATION. THE FLIGHT CONTINUED TO LAS VEGAS, AND POST-FLIGHT INSPECTION REVEALED THAT THERE WAS SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE TO THE PRESSURE BULKHEAD. THE COMPANY'S OPERATIONAL MANUAL CAUTIONS THE FLIGHT CREW TO LIMIT THE INITIAL PITCH ATTITUDE TO 9-10 DEG, AND TO ROTATE SMOOTHLY AT A MAXIMUM RATE OF 3 DEG/SEC. THE DFDR READOUT REVEALED THAT THE ROTATION RATE EXCEEDED 7 DEG/SEC.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Boeing 737 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Mar 1990 | Boeing 737-300 | Wichita, Kansas, United States | Continental Airlines | Minor injuries | - |
| 23 Feb 1990 | Boeing 737-200 | Cleveland, Ohio, United States | U.s.air | No injuries | - |
| 2 Jun 1990 | Boeing 737-2X6C | Unalakleet, Alaska, United States | Markair | Serious injuries | - |
| 22 Jul 1990 | Boeing 737-222 | Kinston, North Carolina, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 21 Aug 1990 | Boeing 737-322 | Los Angeles, California, United States | United Airlines | No injuries | - |
| 19 Sep 1990 | Boeing 737-222 | Denver, Colorado, United States | United Airlines | Minor injuries | - |
All 1,317 records for this type
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Apr 1990 | Cessna 180 | Soledad, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 10 Oct 1990 | Cessna 150 | Riverside, California, United States | PAR Flight | No injuries | - |
| 17 Apr 1990 | Piper PA46 | Paso Robles, California, United States | Piper Aircraft Corp. | No injuries | - |
| 7 Oct 1990 | Cessna 182M | Bakersfield, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 1 Apr 1990 | Piper J-3 | Creston, California, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 11 Oct 1990 | Bell 47G4 | Merced, California, United States | John W. Myers | Serious injuries | - |