American Airlines Flight 96
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Render of American Airlines Flight 96 losing its aft bulk cargo door.
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 12 June 1972 |
| Type | Cargo door failure, control failure |
| Site | Windsor, Ontario |
| Passengers | 56 |
| Crew | 11 |
| Injuries | Several minor injuries |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 67 |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-10-10 |
| Operator | American Airlines |
| Tail number | N103AA |
| Flight origin | Los Angeles International Airport |
| Stopover | Buffalo Niagara International Airport |
| Last stopover | Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport |
| Destination | LaGuardia Airport |
American Airlines Flight 96 was a regular McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 flight operated by American Airlines, with a scheduled route from Los Angeles International Airport to LaGuardia Airport with stops in Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
The flight suffered a cargo door failure on 12 June 1972 while flying over Windsor, Ontario; it is thus sometimes referred to as the Windsor incident.[1] The failure of the cargo door and resulting decompression caused the partial collapse of the passenger compartment floor. The sagging floor ruptured hydraulic lines, pulled the rudder control cable to its maximum right position, and severed controls to engine number two (the tail engine) leading to serious problems operating the aircraft.[2] The plane had no rudder power, and little responsiveness in the elevators or ailerons. However the crew, led by Captain Bryce McCormick, were able to apply differential thrust in the DC-10's wing engines to turn the aircraft, and use what elevator control they had to maintain vertical stabilization. It happened that while converting to the DC-10, McCormick had practiced in a simulator controlling the plane in this fashion, in the worst-case scenario of a hydraulic failure.[1] A similar technique was used in 1989 following a complete loss of hydraulic pressure on another DC-10, United Airlines Flight 232.
Despite the aircraft's being severely damaged, the crew made a successful emergency landing at Detroit, and all people on board evacuated safely. The incident highlighted a serious design flaw in the cargo doors of DC-10 aircraft whereby the door could appear closed but be ineffectively latched.[3] The fault was not satisfactorily repaired, and a subsequent cargo door blow-out occurred in another DC-10 two years later, on Turkish Airlines Flight 981, killing all 346 on board. At the time, the Turkish Airlines accident was the deadliest aviation disaster in history.
Many commentators subsequently blamed the aircraft manufacturer, McDonnell Douglas, and other aviation authorities, for failing to learn lessons from the Flight 96 incident. Although there had been some redesign of the DC-10 cargo door system, it had only been implemented voluntarily and haphazardly by various airlines. If the warning signs of Flight 96 had been heeded, the Turkish Airlines disaster might have been avoided.[3]
N103AA's airframe was broken up at Goodyear in 2002, after being assigned to the FedEx MD-10 program.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
- United Airlines Flight 232
- Turkish Airlines Flight 981
- Japan Airlines Flight 123
- Flying an airplane without control surfaces
- List of notable accidents and incidents on commercial aircraft
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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