USAir McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 accident
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 and New Creation Cessna 310 · Accident: on ground/water collision with object while taxiing
Event
- NTSB case
- NYC91LA021
- 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
- Airline
- 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
Aircraft 1 · McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31
- Aircraft type
- McDonnell Douglas DC-9
- 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
- N972VJ
- Operator
- USAir
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Newark, NJ
- 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 121: Air Carrier
- 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
- Taxi · to runway
- 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
- On ground/water collision with object
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Minor
Aircraft 2 · Cessna 310
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 310
- 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
- N6160X
- Operator
- New Creation
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)To James M. Cox Dayton International Airport (DAY), Dayton, OH
- 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 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
- 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
- Standing · engine(s) operating
- 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
- On ground/water collision with object
- 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
- Copilot/second pilot › Visual lookout, not maintained
- Pilot in command › Identification of aircraft visually, delayed
- Pilot of other aircraft › Identification of aircraft visually, not obtained
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Columbus, OH, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
AS THE DC-9 APPROACHED TAXIWAY C-4 THE CAPTAIN WAS ADVISED BY THE FIRST OFFICER THERE WAS A AIRPLANE OFF TO THEIR ELEVEN O'CLOCK POSITION. THE CAPTAIN APPLIED BRAKES, BUT COULD NOT STOP BEFORE HITTING THE VERTICAL STABILIZER OF A CESSNA 310. THE DC-9 CAPTAIN SAID HE DID NOT SEE ANY LIGHTS ON THE CESSNA. THE CESSNA PILOT SAID HE WAS SITTING IN POSITION TO TAKE THE RUNWAY FOR ABOUT 3 MINUTES APPROXIMATELY 3 FEET FROM THE HOLD LINE WITH HIS ROTATING BEACON AND NAVIGATION LIGHTS ON. THE FAA DETERMINED THE DISTANCE FROM THE HOLD LINE ON TAXIWAY C-4 TO THE CENTER LINE OF THE TAXIWAY WAS 90'. HALF THE WIDTH OF THE DC-9 AND THE LENGTH OF THE CESSNA, PLUS THE 3 FEET FROM THE HOLD LINE (CESSNA'S POSITION), LEFT LITTLE ROOM FOR SEPARATION OF THE AIRPLANES.
Probable cause
THE DC-9 PILOTS FAILED TO SEE THE CESSNA 310 AND ALTER THEIR TAXI PATH TO MAINTAIN CLEARANCE.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record NYC91LA021
- Event ID
- 20001212X24539
- Case number
- NYC91LA021
- 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: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 322ce9e4d4f63cfbb4471e6e9fb3a0c91947e62681cd7fb115aa8dab9ec5c42f; retrieved 2026-09-18T18:58:45.302Z.