Event Details


Title:In-flight upset, Aeromexico, DC-10-30, XA-DUH, over Luxembourg, Europe, November 11, 1979
Micro summary:This McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-30 entered a sustained stall and prestall buffet over Luxembourg, causing significant damage.
Event Time:1979-11-11 at 2138 GMT
File Name:1979-11-11-US.pdf
Publishing Agency:National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Publishing Country:USA
Report number:NTSB-AAR-80-10
Pages:35
Site of event:Climbing to FL310, Luxembourg
Departure:Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Destination:Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, USA
Airplane Type(s):McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30
Flight Phase:Climb
Registration(s):XA-DUH
Operator(s):Aeromexico
Type of flight:Revenue
Occupants:311
Fatalities:0
Serious Injuries:0
Minor/Non-Injured:311
Other Injuries:0
Executive Summary:About 2138, on November 11, 1979, Aeromexico, Flight 945, XA-DUH, a McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-30 aircraft, entered a prestall buffet and a sustained stall over Luxembourg, Europe, at 29,800 ft while climbing to 31,000 f t en route to Miami, Florida, from Frankfurt, Germany. Stall recovery was effected at 18,900 ft. After recovery, the crew performed an inflight functional check of the aircraft and, after finding that it operated properly, continued to their intended destination.

After arrival at Miami, Florida, it was discovered that portions of both outboard elevators and the lower fuselage tail area maintenance access door were missing. There were no injuries to the 311 persons on board Flight 945. No injuries or damage to personnel or property on the ground was reported.

Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the incident.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this incident was the failure of the flightcrew to follow standard climb procedures and to adequately monitor the aircraft's flight instruments. This resulted in the aircraft entering into a prolonged stall buffet which placed the aircraft outside the design envelope.
Learning Keywords:Operations - Upset in-flight (extreme attitudes, stall, spin)
Consequence - Damage - Airframe or fuselage
Close match:In-Flight Separation of Vertical Stabilizer, American Airlines Flight 587, Airbus Industrie A300-605R, N14053, Belle Harbor, New York, November 12, 2001
In-flight breakup, Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-4DM, N807BB, Minden, Nevada, July 13, 1999
In-flight upset, Trans World Airlines, Inc., Boeing 727-31, N840TW, near Saginaw, Michigan, April 4, 1979
In-flight turbulence encounter and loss of portions of the elevators, China Airlines Flight CI-012, McDonnell Douglas MD-11-P, Taiwan registration B-150, About 20 miles east of Japan, December 7, 1992

 




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