AT73, en-route, Roselawn IN USA, 1994

AT73, en-route, Roselawn IN USA, 1994

Summary

On 31 October 1994, an ATR 72 exited controlled flight after a flap retraction when descending through 9000 feet was followed by autopilot disconnect and rapid and very large un-commanded roll inputs from which recovery, not within the scope of received crew training, was not achieved. The investigation found this roll upset had been due to a sudden and unexpected aileron hinge moment reversal after ice accretion on the upper wings aft of the leading edge pneumatic de-icing boots during earlier holding in icing conditions which had been - unknown to the crew - outside the icing certification envelope.

Description

On 31 October 1994, an ATR 72-212 (N401-AM) being operated by Simmons Airlines (a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines' holding company AMR Corporation) on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Indianapolis to Chicago O'Hare as American Eagle 4184 was descending through 9100 feet QNH in day Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) and experienced a sudden, severe and sustained roll upset from which the crew were unable to recover. Uncontrolled descent ended in ground impact at an extremely high rate of descent which completely destroyed the aircraft and killed all 68 occupants.

The full content of this page is available to registered users only.
Please Log in or Register

SKYbrary Partners:

Safety knowledge contributed by: