Boeing 757-200 N526UA

Summary

On 27 August 2004 at about 18:30 local time, a Boeing 757-200 registered N526UA was involved in an incident near Richmond, BC, Canada. 130 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 August 2004 at 18:30

Classification

Incident

Location

Richmond, BC, Canada

Coordinates

47.4444, -122.3311

Aircraft

Boeing 757-200

Registration

N526UA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Vancouver, BC → Chicago

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA04IA175

Nobody was injured.

The slat was impacted by birds after takeoff and subsequently the slat delaminated due to flight loads.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight crew reported hearing a "grinding noise" during initial flap retraction after takeoff. A flight attendant subsequently notified the flight crew that there was a loud "hum and vibration" coming from the right wing. The captain instructed the flight attendant to scan the wing for any anomalies. The flight attendant notified the crew of damage to the wing's leading edge. The flight crew immediately diverted to Seattle, Washington, and performed a normal landing. A post event assessment of the slat by United Airline's engineering staff said "while there is no evidence of bird remains, it is our opinion that the damage was due to impact following takeoff, most likely bird, with subsequent damage caused by flight loads. The crew did not observe birds in the area. The characteristic of the damage does not lend itself to fatigue/delamination of the slat as cause." This incident was delegated to the NTSB by the Canadian TSB.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.