On 8 March 2017, a Boeing MD83 departing Ypsilanti could not be rotated and the takeoff had to be rejected from above V1. The high speed overrun which followed substantially damaged the aircraft but evacuation was successful. The Investigation found that the right elevator had been locked in a trailing-edge-down position as a result of damage caused to the aircraft by high winds whilst it was parked unoccupied for two days prior to the takeoff. It was noted that on an aircraft with control tab initiated elevator movement, this condition was undetectable during prevailing pre flight system inspection or checks.
Description
On 8 March 2017, a Boeing MD83 (N786TW) being operated by Ameristar Charters on a non-scheduled passenger flight from Ypsilanti to Washington Dulles being flown by a type rated Captain undergoing supervised type-variant differences training could not be rotated during a daylight takeoff in normal visibility and the unavoidable high speed rejected takeoff led to an overrun of 350 metres. An emergency evacuation of the 116 occupants was successfully accomplished with just one passenger sustaining a minor injury but the damage to the aircraft was substantial.
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