Description

On 17 December 2007, an Embraer 145 being operated by Chautauqua Airlines on a Delta Connection passenger flight departing New York JFK runway 31L for an unrecorded destination carried out a high speed rejected take off in normal day visibility when the response to elevator control input at rotation was abnormal. The aircraft stopped on the runway and was subsequently able to taxy back to the gate where all 50 passengers were disembarked. Aircraft damage to the aircraft was confined to the elevator control system and to sheet metal on the horizontal stabiliser.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the National Transportation Safety Board (USA) (NTSB). It was noted that the runway used was 4440m long, so that there had been no risk of an overrun as a result of a high speed rejected take off.

An inspection of the elevator control system showed that both the left and right elevator control rods had fractured completely, rendering the elevator system inoperable. Both rods were found to have failed in compression in the presence of a bending moment.

It was noted that prior to the attempted take off, the aircraft had been parked outside and exposed to tailwinds of between 30 and 40 knots.