Airprox Serious incident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 N924L, Saturday 5 December 1987
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Date:Saturday 5 December 1987
Time:14:45 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic DC93 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
Owner/operator:Trans World Airlines - TWA
Registration: N924L
MSN: 47324/469
Year of manufacture:1969
Engine model:JT-8D
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants:
Other fatalities:0
Aircraft damage: None
Category:Serious incident
Location:Baltimore, MD -   United States of America
Phase: En route
Nature:Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:Baltimore, MD (KBWI)
Destination airport:Harrisburg, PA (HAR)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
TWA FLT 388 (DC-9, N924L) WAS IN CLOUDS CLIMBING TO 7000' WHEN BALTIMORE (BWI) TRACON ADZD THAT AN ACFT (PIPER PA-28R) WAS STRAIGHT AHEAD AT 3 MI DSCNDG FM 6700'. FLT 388 HAD PASSED 6000' & THE CAPT REQUESTED A TRAFFIC AVOIDANCE VECTOR.
THE TRACON CTLR INSTRUCTED FLT 388 TO LVL AT 6000' & TURN LEFT TO 270 DEGS, BUT BY THAT TIME, FLT 388 WAS AT 6400'. AS FLT 388 WAS TURNING LEFT, IT BROKE OUT OF CLOUD TOPS & THE AIRCREW SAW THE PIPER PA-28 AT THEIR ONE O'CLOCK POSITION. THE TWA CREW TOOK EVASIVE ACTION. THE TWA CAPT SAID THE PIPER PA-28 PASSED APRX 500' TO 1000' LATERALLY WITH NO VERTICALSEPARATION. THE PIPER PILOT SAID HE SAW FLT 388 AS IT CAME OUT OF THE CLOUD TOP IN A LEFT TURN. HE ESTIMATED THAT FLT 388 PASSED WITH APRX 3/4 MI SEPARATION. THE PIPER WAS VFR & FLT 388 WAS IFR & FLYING IN THE BWI ARSA. THE PLTS OF BOTH ACFT WERE IN CTC WITH BWI TRACON, BUT THEY WERE ON DIFFERENT RADIO FREQS & WERE BEING HANDLED BY DIFFERENT CTLRS. FLT 388 WAS BEING HANDLED BY A TRAINEE CTLR.

Findings
1. (C) RADAR SEPARATION - INADEQUATE - ATC PERSONNEL(DEP/APCH)
2. (C) TRAFFIC ADVISORY - DELAYED - ATC PERSONNEL(DEP/APCH)

Accident investigation:
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Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: BFO88IA012
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 7 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB BFO88IA012

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
26-Mar-2024 09:40 ASN Update Bot Added
31-Mar-2024 13:40 ASN Updated [Cn, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, ]
31-Mar-2024 13:40 ASN Updated [Total occupants, ]
17-Oct-2024 17:21 ASN Updated [Cn, ]

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