Delta Air Lines Flight 554

Delta Air Lines Flight 554 was a scheduled Delta Air Lines domestic passenger flight between Atlanta and New York City's LaGuardia Airport. On October 19, 1996, the McDonnell Douglas MD-88 aircraft struck the approach light structure and the vertical edge of the concrete landing deck during its approach to land on Runway 13 at LaGuardia Airport. The aircraft proceeded to skid 2,700 feet down the runway before coming to a rest. Of the 58 passengers and 5 crew members aboard, 5 received minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged and repaired for $14 million.

The final report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the probable cause of the accident was the inability of the captain, because of his use of monovision contact lenses, to overcome his misperception of the aircraft's position relative to the runway during the visual portion of the approach.

History of the flight

Flight 554 took off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at 2:41 PM EST, after leaving the gate at 2:31 PM. The departure, climb, and en route portions of the flight proceeded uneventfully, although they experienced turbulence at their cruising altitude of 37000 ft.

The aircraft began its descent from 3000 ft on the ILS DME approach to runway 13. The weather at the time was an 800 ft broken ceiling, with a visibility of 0.5 mi in the fog and a runway visual range of 3000 ft.

Accident

At 4:38 PM EST, LaGuardia ATCT stated, "You are cleared to land, Delta five fifty-four," and the first officer acknowledged the landing clearance. The CVR recorded the sound of the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) announcing minimums. About a second later, the captain stated that he had the approach lights in sight.

According to the CVR transcript, the captain began to reduce the engine power, and the first officer stated, "Nose up." The CVR recorded the sound of the GPWS "sink rate" warning, followed by sounds of impact at 4:38:36.5 PM EST.

The right wing of the airplane struck the approach light structure in Flushing Bay and the vertical edge of the concrete runway deck, and then skidded approximately 2,700 feet down the 7,000 ft. runway 13 on its lower fuselage and nose landing gear before it came to a stop.

The nose landing gear came to a stop on the pavement, with the fuselage oriented on a 345° heading; the left wing extended towards the runway centerline, and the right wing extended over the wet, grassy area next to the runway. Wreckage was scattered across the length of the 2,700 ft. skid. According to flight and cabin crewmember statements, after the airplane came to a stop, the pilots began to assess the damage to the airplane and determine whether an emergency evacuation was warranted, while the flight attendants picked up their interphone handsets and awaited instructions.

About 74 seconds after the airplane came to a stop (about 94 seconds after impact), the captain issued the emergency evacuation command after a non-revenue Delta pilot and Jennifer Teas, the Flight Attendant In Charge (FAIC) reported that they smelled jet fuel fumes in the cabin, as 600 gallons of jet fuel leaked from the aircraft's right wing. All aircraft occupants exited through the left front door slide.