Event Details

Title:

Runway Incursion and Collision, Northwest Airlines, Inc. Flights 1482 and 299, Detroit Metropolitan/Wayne County Airport, Romulus, Michigan, December 3, 1990

Micro summary:

A Boeing 727 on its takeoff roll collided with a Douglas DC-9 that had taxiied onto the runway.

Event Time:

1990-12-03 at 1345 EST

File Name:

1990-12-03-US.pdf

Publishing Agency:

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

Publishing Country:

USA

Report number:

NTSB-AAR-91-05

Pages:

179

Site of event:

Intersection of Runway 03C/21C and 09/27,

Latitude/Longitude:

N42°12.9' W083°20.9'

First Airplane

Second Airplane

Departure:

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Romulus, Michigan, USA

Destination:

Pittsburgh International Airport, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Memphis International Airport, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Airplane Type(s):

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14

Boeing 727-251

Flight Phase:

Takeoff

Taxi

Registration(s):

N3313L

N278US

Operator(s):

Northwest Airlines

Type of flight:

Revenue

Occupants:

154

Fatalities:

Serious Injuries:

Minor/Non-Injured:

154

Other Injuries:

Executive Summary:

On December 3, 1990, at 1345 eastern standard time, Northwest Airlines flight 1482, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, and Northwest Airlines flight 299, a Boeing 727, collided near the intersection of runways 09/27 and 03C/21C in dense fog at Detroit Metropolitan/Wayne County Airport, Romulus, Michigan. At the time of the collision, the B-727 was on its takeoff roll, and the DC-9 had just taxied onto the active runway. The B-727 was substantially damaged, and the DC-9 was destroyed. Eight of the 39 passengers and 4 crewmembers aboard the DC-9 received fatal injuries. None of the 146 passengers and 10 crewmembers aboard the B-727 were injured.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was a lack of proper crew coordination, including a virtual reversal of roles by the DC-9 pilots, which led to their
failure to stop taxiing their airplane and alert the ground controller of their positional uncertainty in a timely manner before and after intruding onto the active runway.

Contributing to the cause of the accident were

(1) deficiencies in the air traffic control services provided by the Detroit tower, including failure of the ground controller to take timely action to alert the local controller to the possible runway incursion, inadequate visibility observations, failure to use progressive taxi instructions in low-visibility conditions, and issuance of inappropriate and confusing taxi instructions, compounded by inadequate backup supervision for the level of experience of the staff on duty;

(2) deficiencies in the surface markings, signage, and lighting at the airport and the failure of Federal Aviation Administration surveillance to detect or correct any of these deficiencies; and

(3) failure of Northwest Airlines, Inc., to provide adequate cockpit resource management training to their line aircrews.

Contributing to the fatalities in the accident was the inoperability of the DC-9 internal tailcone release mechanism. Contributing to the number and severity of injuries was the failure of the crew of the DC-9 to properly execute the passenger evacuation.

The safety issues raised in this report include:

1. Airport marking and lighting;
2. Cockpit resource management;
3. Air traffic control procedures in low-visibility conditions;
4. Flight attendant procedures during evacuations;
5. Design of the DC-9 tailcone emergency release system.

Recommendations concerning these issues were addressed to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Detroit Metropolitan/Wayne County Airport, and Northwest Airlines, Inc.

Accident Reports on DVD, Copyright © 2006 by Flight Simulation Systems, LLC.  All Rights Reserved.
 All referenced trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Learning Keywords:	Operations - Airport Markings or Lighting
	Operations - Airspace - Air Traffic Control
	Operations - Crew Resource Management
	Operations - Evacuation
	Other - Certification
	Other - Crew Fatigue
	Other - Post-Crash Survivability
	Other - Regulatory Oversight
	Other - Workplace Culture or Management
	Consequence - Hull Loss