NTSB REVIEWS AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 2253 RUNWAY OVERRUN
Earlier this month, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a meeting to discuss American Airlines flight 2253 runway overrun. On December 29, 2010, flight 2253 overran Jackson Hole Airport (JAC) runway 19 after a manufacturing defect in a clutch mechanism prevented the speedbrakes from automatically deploying after touchdown.
NTSB found the defect, combined with the captain’s failure to monitor and extend the speedbrakes manually, the failure of the thrust reversers to deploy when initially commanded, the captain’s failure to confirm speedbrake extension before announcing their deployment, and the distraction caused by the thrust reverser’s failure to deploy, all contributed to the incident
In response to the incident, NTSB proffered the following new safety recommendations: 1) all operators of existing speedbrake-equipped transport-category airplanes develop and incorporate training to specifically address recognition of a situation in which the speedbrakes do not deploy as expected after landing; 2) all newly type-certificated 14 CFR Part 25 airplanes have a clearly distinguishable and intelligible alert that warns pilots when the speedbrakes have not deployed during the landing roll; and 3) Boeing must establish guidance for pilots of all relevant airplanes to follow when an unintended thrust reverser lockout occurs and provide that guidance to all operators of those airplanes.
NTSB reiterated the importance of FAA establishing best practices for conducting single and multiple emergency and abnormal situations training and requiring all pilot training programs be modified to contain modules that teach monitoring skills and workload management.
NTSB also discussed proper channels of communication to alert the industry of safety issues related to pilot expectation bias. We will continue to track any information published by NTSB regarding expectation bias. If you have any questions concerning the incident or NTSB safety recommendations, please contact our office.