Douglas DC-8-61 N27UA

Summary

On 7 August 1997 at about 16:36 local time, a Douglas DC-8-61 registered N27UA, operated by Fine Airlines, Inc., was involved in an accident near Miami, Florida, United States. 5 people were on board and 4 died. One person on the ground also died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 August 1997 at 16:36

Classification

Accident

Location

Miami, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Miami International Airpo (MIA)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Douglas DC-8-61

Registration

N27UA

Category

Airplane

Engines

4

Operator

Fine Airlines, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Miami → Santo Domingo

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DCA97MA059

4 people died, including 1 on the ground.

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.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

: 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 :

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.