Eastern Air Lines Flight 855

Eastern Airlines Flight 855
Occurrence summary
Date 5 May 1983
Summary Engine failure
Passengers 162
Crew 10
Injuries (non-fatal) 0
Fatalities 0
Survivors 172 (all)
Aircraft type Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1
Operator Eastern Air Lines
Registration N334EA
Flight origin Miami International Airport
Destination Nassau International Airport

Eastern Air Lines Flight 855 was an air incident near Miami, Florida on May 5, 1983. En route from Miami International Airport to Nassau International Airport, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, registration N334EA, experienced the loss of all three engines. The flight crew succeeded in restarting one engine in time to safely land the aircraft at Miami International Airport.

The incident

Eastern Air Lines Flight 855 took off from Miami International Airport at 08:56 on a flight to Nassau International Airport in the Bahamas carrying 162 passengers and 10 crew.[1] On board was a veteran flight crew, consisting of Captain Richard Boddy (58), Captain Steve Thompson (48) and Flight Engineer Dudley Barnes (44). Captain Boddy had more than 12,000 hours of total flying experience, although he was new to the L-1011, having logged just 13 hours in the aircraft type. On this flight, Captain Thompson served as a supervisory check airman. He had accrued close to 17,000 flight hours throughout his career, with 282 hours in the L-1011. Flight Engineer Barnes had more than 9,000 hours of total flying time, with 2,666 hours clocked in the L-1011 cockpit.[2]

At 09:15, while descending through 15,000 feet (4,572 m), the low oil pressure indicator on the TriStar's number 2 engine illuminated.[3] The flight engineer noted that the oil pressure on the #2 engine was fluctuating between 15 and 25 psi; the minimum pressure required for normal engine operation was 30 psi.[4] The captain ordered the flight engineer to shut down the engine.

By this time, the plane was about 50 miles (80 km) from Nassau.[4] Due to the worsening weather conditions over Nassau,[5] the crew elected to return to Miami to land. Flight 855 received a clearance back to Miami, as well as instructions to begin a climb to FL200 (20,000 ft, 6,096 m nominal altitude).[3]

En route back to Miami, low oil pressure lights for engines #1 and #3 illuminated,[1] and the oil quantity gauges for all three engines read zero.[4] At 09:23, Flight 855 informed Miami ARTCC of the engine gauge readings but stated, "We believe it to be faulty indications since the chance of all three engines having zero oil pressure and zero quantity is almost nil."[4] At 09:28, at an altitude of 16,000 feet (4,877 m), the #3 engine failed. Five minutes later, the #1 engine flamed out while the crew was attempting to restart the #2 engine.[3] Cabin lights went off and flight deck instruments stopped working. The aircraft descended without power from about 13,000 feet (3,962 m) to about 4,000 feet (1,219 m), at a rate of descent of approximately 1,600 feet (488 m) per minute.[4] The crew successfully restarted the #2 engine on the third attempt and executed a one-engine landing at Miami at 09:46.[3][6] After the landing the power from #2 engine was insufficient for the aircraft to taxi; a tug had to be used to tow it to the airport terminal, where the occupants disembarked normally.[6] None of the 172 passengers and crew aboard was injured in the incident.[3]

Cause

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the incident was as follows:

[T]he omission of all the O-ring seals on the master chip detector assemblies leading to the loss of lubrication and damage to the airplane's three engines as a result of the failure of mechanics to follow the established and proper procedures for the installation of master chip detectors in the engine lubrication system, the repeated failure of supervisory personnel to require mechanics to comply strictly with the prescribed installation procedures, and the failure of Eastern Air Lines management to assess adequately the significance of similar previous occurrences and to act effectively to institute corrective action. Contributing to the cause of the incident was the failure of Federal Aviation Administration maintenance inspectors to assess the significance of the incidents involving master chip detectors and to take effective surveillance and enforcement measures to prevent the recurrence of the incidents.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Summary for Aircraft Accident Report AAR-84-04: Eastern Airlines, INC., Lockheed L-1011, N334EA, National Transportation Safety Board, 9 March 1984, retrieved 2013-06-28
  2. ↑ http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR84-04.pdf
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Aircraft Accident: Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1 N334EA Miami International Airport, FL (MIA), retrieved 2013-06-28
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Aircraft Accident Report AAR-84-04: Eastern Airlines, INC., Lockheed L-1011, N334EA, National Transportation Safety Board, 9 March 1984, retrieved 2013-06-28
  5. ↑ Thompson, Steve (April 2013), The Story of Eastern Flight 855 - Pilot's first hand account of incident, retrieved 2011-02-12
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 NTSB accident report, p.4, accessed May 3, 2014

External links