Boeing 737-200 N740AS

Summary

On 30 October 2006 at about 16:40 local time, a Boeing 737-200 registered N740AS was involved in an incident near Seattle, Washington, United States. 76 people were on board and nobody was injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 October 2006 at 16:40

Classification

Incident

Location

Seattle, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Seattle-Tacoma Intl (SEA)

Coordinates

47.6095, -122.3292

Aircraft

Boeing 737-200

Registration

N740AS

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Seattle → Juneau

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DCA07IA008

Nobody was injured.

the flight crew's failure to cross-check and verify that the airplane was on the correct runway before takeoff. Contributing to the incident was the flight crew's self-induced pressure to heed the takeoff clearance during a period of increased workload.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The captain of the Boeing 737 stated that there was a short delay at the gate because of a "cargo issue." The automatic terminal information service broadcast indicated that departures were using runway 34R, either with the full length or from the intersection at taxiway Q. The ground controller cleared the flight to taxi to runway 34R at taxiway Q. During the taxi, the first officer was busy talking with dispatch and completing the flight paperwork while the captain taxied the airplane and handled the ATC communications. The flight crew received the amended flight release as the airplane approached taxiway Q. The captain then switched to the local control frequency and heard the local controller (LC) issue the flight clearance to taxi into position and hold on runway 34C. The captain read back the clearance, including "runway 34 center." As the FO was completing the preflight activities, the LC cleared the flight for takeoff from runway 34C and indicated that there was traffic on short final. The captain again repeated the clearance for takeoff on runway "34 center." However, the captain lined up the airplane on the 34R centerline and transferred control to the FO. The airplane departed uneventfully. The LC noticed the airplane departing on runway 34C and did not order an abort because there were no potential traffic conflicts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.