FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

CHI93FA109 · McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31

11 Mar 1993 · SAINT LOUIS, MO, United States

Trans World Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 · Accident: loss of control on ground/water during takeoff

From St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) to St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL)

Show on map Search Wikipedia NTSB source dataset
Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
CHI93FA109
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31

Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N978Z
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL)To St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL)
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Takeoff
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Loss of control on ground/water
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Reversers, improper use of
  • Pilot in command › Throttle/power control, excessive
  • Thrust reverser › Not secured

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

DURING THE 1ST OFFICER'S INITIAL TRAINING, THE CAPT ELECTED TO DEMONSTRATE 'A MORE EFFICIENT REVERSING TECHNIQUE' USING A TOUCH-AND-GO. THE AIRPLANE DEPARTED THE LEFT SIDE OF THE RUNWAY AT THE 4,000-FT MARKER DRAGGING THE LEFT WING AND LOWER LEFT REVERSER BUCKET. IT THEN CONTINUED FOR 2,000 FT BEFORE COMING TO REST. EVIDENCE INDICATED THAT NEITHER THRUST REVERSER WAS STOWED, AND THAT THE FLAPS WERE AT FULL DEPLOYMENT. MCDONNELL DOUGLAS LETTER #4 INDICATES THAT REVERSER BUCKETS WILL NOT STOW WITH EPR ABOVE APPROX 1.2. THE DFDR SHOWED NO INDICATION THAT THE AIRPLANE COMPLETELY LIFTED OFF THE GROUND ONCE THE INITIAL LANDING WAS MADE, AND IT INDICATED A CONSTANT DECAY OF AIRSPEED FROM THE INITIAL TOUCHDOWN UNTIL THE AIRPLANE STOPPED. THERE WAS A RIGHT CROSSWIND AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. THERE WAS NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE THAT THE NOSE WHEEL WAS IN CONTACT WITH THE RUNWAY WHEN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL WAS LOST. THE AIRPLANE FLIGHT MANUAL INDICATES THAT INCREASING AMOUNTS OF REVERSE THRUST SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES RUDDER EFFECTIVENESS.

Probable cause

THE CAPTAIN'S IMPROPER USE OF THRUST REVERSERS AND EXCESSIVE USE OF ENGINE POWER. FACTORS WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE CROSSWIND AND THE FIRST OFFICER'S FAILURE TO RAISE THE FLAPS.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record CHI93FA109
Event ID
20001211X11935
Case number
CHI93FA109
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1993-03-12.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 046a11515a1358cb654add2b25443c6d64d4e14d20f554066b57d0b9efdff79b; retrieved 2026-09-23T02:15:47.074Z.