| - | ACCIDENT DETAILS |
| Date: | December 03, 1990 |
| Time: | 1345 |
| Location: | Romulus, Michigan |
| Operator: | Northwest Airlines/ Northwest Airlines |
| Flight #: | 299/1482 |
| Route: | Detroit - Pittsburgh |
| AC Type: | Boeing B-727-251 / MD Douglas DC-9-14 |
| Registration: | N278US/N3313L |
| cn / ln: | 21157 / 45708/77 |
| Aboard: | 198 (passengers:186 crew:12) |
| Fatalities: | 8 (passengers:7 crew:1) |
| Ground: | 0 |
| Summary: | At Detroit Metro Airport a ground collision occurred in dense fog. The 727 was on its takeoff roll when the DC-9 taxied onto the active runway. The wingtip of the 727 cut into the fuselage of the DC-9. Lack of proper crew coordination, including virtual reversal of roles by the DC-9 pilots, which led to their failure to stop taxiing and alert ground controller of their positional uncertainty in a timely manner before and after intruding onto the active runway. Contributing to cause of accident were: - Deficiencies in ATC services provided by Detroit tower, including failure of ground control to take timely action to alert local controller to possible runway incursion, inadequate visibility observation, failure to use progressive taxi instructions low-visibility conditions, and issuance of inappropriate and confusing taxi instructions compounded by inadequate backup supervision for level of experience of staff on duty; - Deficiencies in surface markings, signage and lighting at airport and failure of FAA surveillance to detect or correct any of these deficiencies; - Failure of Northwest Airlines to provide adequate cockpit resource management training to line aircrews. Contributing to fatalities was inoperability of DC-9 internal tailcone release mechanism. Contributing to number and severity of injuries was failure of crew of DC-9 to properly execute the passenger evacuation. Eight killed aboard the DC-9. None aboard the B-727. |
Sources
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