Boeing 767 N1217A

Summary

On 23 February 2019 at about 18:39 local time, a Boeing 767 registered N1217A, operated by Atlas Air, was involved in an accident near Trinity Bay, Texas, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 February 2019 at 18:39

Classification

Accident

Location

Trinity Bay, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

George Bush Intercontinental (KIAH)

Coordinates

29.7700, -94.6600

Aircraft

Boeing 767

Registration

N1217A

Category

Airplane

Year built

1992

Engines

2

Operator

Atlas Air

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Miami → Houston

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DCA19MA086

3 people died.

The inappropriate response by the first officer as the pilot flying to an inadvertent activation of the go-around mode, which led to his spatial disorientation and nose-down control inputs that placed the airplane in a steep descent from which the crew did not recover. Contributing to the accident was the captain's failure to adequately monitor the airplane's flightpath and assume positive control of the airplane to effectively intervene. Also contributing were systemic deficiencies in the aviation industry's selection and performance measurement practices, which failed to address the first officer's aptitude-related deficiencies and maladaptive stress response. Also contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to implement the pilot records database in a sufficiently robust and timely manner.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/aviation.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-20/02.  On February 23, 2019, at 1239 central standard time, Atlas Air Inc. flight 3591, a Boeing 767-375BCF, N1217A, was destroyed after it rapidly descended from an altitude of about 6,000 ft mean sea level and crashed into a shallow, muddy marsh area of Trinity Bay, Texas, about 41 miles east-southeast of George Bush Intercontinental/Houston Airport (IAH), Houston, Texas. The captain, first officer, and a nonrevenue pilot riding in the jumpseat died. Atlas operated the airplane as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 domestic cargo flight for Amazon.com Services LLC, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed. The flight departed from Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, about 1033 (1133 eastern standard time) and was destined for IAH.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.