Description

On 16 August 1987, an MCDONNELL DOUGLAS MD-82 being operated by Northwest Airlines on a scheduled passenger flight from Detroit MI to Phoenix AZ failed to get properly airborne in day VMC and, after damaging impact with obstacles within the airport perimeter after climbing to a maximum height of just under 40 ft, impacted the ground causing the destruction of the aircraft by impact forces and a subsequent fire. All but one of the 157 occupants were killed with the single survivor suffering serious injury. On the ground, 2 people were killed, 2 more seriously injured and 4 more suffered minor injury with several buildings vehicles and structures damaged or destroyed.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the National Transportation Safety Board (USA) (NTSB). The FDR and CVR were recovered and sucessfully replayed.

It was established that, after failing to climb properly, and in the presence of roll oscillation, the left wing of the aircraft had struck a 42 ft high car park lighting pole at a height of 37 ft agl, damaging the wing structure and causing a major fuel leak. The aircraft had then continued to roll left across the car park before striking a second lighting pole and then a building before ground impact on a road outside the airport boundary. The aircraft continued to slide along the road, disintegrating as it progressed. Fires began in various pieces of aircraft wreckage and three occupied vehicles on the road and several unoccupied vehicles in the car park were destroyed by impact forces and / or fire.