ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15RC N565PC Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport, OH (CLE)

Home » Database » 1991

Status:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:	Sunday 17 February 1991
Time:	00:19
Type:	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15RC
Operator:	Ryan International Airlines
Registration:	N565PC
MSN:	47240/346
First flight:	1968
Engines:	2 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B
Crew:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Passengers:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Aircraft fate:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:	Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport, OH (CLE) ( United States of America)
Crash site elevation:	241 m (791 feet) amsl
Phase:	Takeoff (TOF)
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport, OH (CLE/KCLE), United States of America
Destination airport:	Indianapolis International Airport, IN (IND/KIND), United States of America
Flightnumber:	590

Narrative:
Ryan Flight 590 landed at Cleveland at 23:44 and taxied to the mail ramp. Snow (dry and blowing) fell throughout the 35 minutes that the DC-9 was on the ground. The de-icing service was not requested during this period. Clearance to taxi to runway 23 was received at 00:09. Takeoff clearance was given at 00:18.
The aircraft stalled during takeoff and rolled 90° at 50-100 feet. The airplane then suffered compressor stalls, the left wing contacted the runway and the aircraft cart wheeled. The DC-9 came to rest inverted 6500 feet from the threshold.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The failure of the flight crew to detect and remove ice contamination on the airplane's wings, which was largely a result of a lack of appropriate response by the Federal Aviation Administration, Douglas Aircraft Company, and Ryan International Airlines to the known effect that a minute amount of contamination has on the stall characteristics of the DC-9 series 10 airplane. The ice contamination led to wing stall and loss of control during the attempted takeoff."

Accident investigation:

Investigating agency:	NTSB
Status:	Investigation completed
Duration:	272 days (9 months)
Accident number:	NTSB/AAR-91-09
Download report:	Final report

Classification:

Icing
Loss of control

Sources:

» Airport Operations Vol.19, No.6 (Nov/Dec 1993) / Flight Safety Foundation
» ICAO Adrep 2/93 (#45)
» ICAO Adrep 4/94 (#99)
» NTSB/AAR-91/09

Follow-up / safety actions

NTSB issued 6 Safety Recommendations

Issued: 11-DEC-1991	To: FAA	A-91-123
REQUIRE THE INCLUSION IN THE DC-9 SERIES 10 APPROVED AIRPLANE FLIGHT MANUAL OF A CAUTION ABOUT THE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF THE AIRPLANE TO FLIGHT CONTROL PROBLEMS WITH MINUTE AND MARGINALLY DETECTABLE AMOUNTS OF ICE ON THE LEADING EDGE AND UPPER SURFACE OF THE WING. (Closed - Acceptable Action)
Issued: 11-DEC-1991	To: FAA	A-91-124
REQUIRE IN AIR CARRIER OPERATIONS MANUALS AND APPROPRIATE AIRPLANE FLIGHT MANUALS THAT FLIGHTCREWS OF DC-9 SERIES 10 AIRPLANES PERFORM A VISUAL AND TACTILE INSPECTION OF THE WING LEADING EDGE AND UPPER SURFACE USING NECESSARY EQUIPMENT PRIOR TO DEPARTURE WHENEVER TEMPERATURES BELOW 5 DEGREES C AND VISIBLE MOISTURE EXIST OR WHENEVER THE AIRPLANE RECENTLY ENCOUNTERED ICING CONDITIONS. (Closed - Acceptable Action)
Issued: 11-DEC-1991	To: FAA	A-91-125
REQUIRE PRINCIPAL OPERATIONS INSPECTORS TO REVIEW CERTIFICATE HOLDERS OPERATING DC-9 SERIES 10 AIRPLANES TO DETERMINE THE ADEQUACY OF FLIGHTCREW TRAINING PROGRAMS RELATED TO AIRFRAME ICING CONDITIONS. (Closed - Acceptable Alternate Action)
Issued: 11-DEC-1991	To: FAA	A-91-126
EVALUATE THE NEED FOR ACTIONS AS DESCRIBED IN SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS A-91-123 THROUGH A-91-125 FOR OTHER TRANSPORT CATEGORY TURBOJET AIRPLANES THAT DO NOT HAVE LEADING EDGE DEVICES AND ARE PARTICULARLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLIGHT CONTROL PROBLEMS ARISING FROM SMALL AMOUNTS OF FROST, ICE OR SNOW ON THE WINGS. (Closed - Acceptable Action)
Issued: 11-DEC-1991	To: FAA	A-91-127
EVALUATE A PROCEDURE TO USE THE MAXIMUM ROTATION SPEED DURING TAKEOFF THAT WILL RETAIN THE PRESENTLY REQUIRED END OF RUNWAY AND CLIMB GRADIENT SAFETY MARGINS WHEN OPERATING ON RUNWAYS THAT EXCEED THE MINIMUM TAKEOFF RUNWAY LENGTH REQUIRED; REQUIRE OPERATORS TO PROVIDE MAXIMUM ROTATION SPEED INFORMATION TO DC-9 SERIES 10 FLIGHTCREWS FOR USE IN WINTER OPERATIONS. (Closed - Acceptable Action)
Issued: 11-DEC-1991	To: FAA	A-91-128
REQUIRE AIR CARRIER OPERATORS, WHEN ACQUIRING A NEW MODEL AIRRAFT, TO FORMALLY REQUEST FROM THE MANUFACTURER ALL PERTINENT INFORMATION PREVIOUSLY DISSEMINATED REGARDING THE OPERATION OF THE PARTICULAR AIRCRAFT TYPE. (Closed - Acceptable Alternate Action)

Show all...

Photos

accident date: 17-02-1991
type: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15RC
registration: N9351

Map

This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport, OH to Indianapolis International Airport, IN as the crow flies is 417 km (261 miles).
Accident location: Exact; as reported in the official accident report.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.

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DC-9-10

147 built
16^th loss
10^th fatal accident
10^th worst accident (at the time)
13^th worst accident (currently)

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