Delta Air Lines Flight 1080: Difference between revisions

Delta Air Lines Flight 1080
	The aircraft involved in the incident in 1996, while being operated by American Trans Air
Incident
Date	April 12, 1977
Summary	Loss of pitch control due to malfunctioning elevator
Site	Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lockheed L-1011 TriStar
Operator	Delta Air Lines
Registration	N707DA
Flight origin	San Diego International Airport, San Diego, California, United States
1st stopover	Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States
2nd stopover	Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Grapevine, Texas, United States
Last stopover	Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Kenner, Louisiana, United States
Destination	Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Occupants	52
Passengers	41
Crew	11
Fatalities	0
Injuries	0
Survivors	52

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Revision as of 15:23, 23 December 2023

Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 was a scheduled flight from San Diego, California to Atlanta, Georgia, notable for the incident that occurred on April 12, 1977 during the San Diego to Los Angeles leg of the flight.^[3] Unknown to the crew, the Lockheed L-1011's left elevator had become stuck in a fully upwards position. This led to the aircraft pitching up aggressively and causing the aircraft to lose speed and nearly stall.^[4] The pitching force, unable to be overcome by fully pushing the control column down, was counteracted by reducing the thrust on the L-1011's wing engines but not the tail engine. The differential thrust, along with moving all the passengers as far forwards as possible in the cabin, pitched down the nose of the airliner and allowed the pilots to land the aircraft.^[1]^[5]

An investigation found that the pressurization and depressurization of the L-1011 during flight cycles had caused water to be pushed inside a bearing, heavily corroding it and causing it to become jammed during a routine control surfaces check prior to takeoff. The FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive instructing airlines to do a check of the bearing. This verification, however, was not sufficient to prevent takeoff with a jammed elevator; and a similar incident followed two months later. The FAA then made it mandatory for crews to inspect the elevators before each takeoff.^[1]^[6]

As a result of the incidents, Lockheed redesigned the elevator systems to be redundant upon failure of the bearings, as well as adding a seal to the bearing and a deflector to reduce the amount of water contacting the part.^[1] Lockheed also modified the pilot's manual to improve the Pitch Axis Control Assist Procedures. The FAA further made it mandatory for pilots to be informed of these changes.^[6]

For his skill in landing the crippled airplane, the captain, Jack McMahan, was awarded the FAA's Distinguished Service Award.^[2] The airplane was repaired and continued to fly for Delta until 1985. It was subsequently sold to American Trans Air, where it was registered with the tail number "N187AT". The airplane was scrapped in 2002.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The Saving Of Flight 1080". The Washington Post. 1978-10-08. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
^ ^a ^b "Flight 1080" (PDF). Tristar500.net. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
^ "Delta's L1011 Routes - Airliners.net". www.airliners.net. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
^ "NTSB ID: LAX77IA037". www.ntsb.gov. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
^ "NASA Technical Paper : Development and Flight Evaluation of an Emergency Digital Flight Control System Using Only Engine Thrust on an F-15 Airplane" (PDF). Nasa.gov. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Airworthiness directives: Lockheed-California Company Model, L-1011-385 Series Airplanes" (PDF). Federal Register. 42 (176): 45631–45632. 1977-09-12.
^ "American Trans Air N187AT (Lockheed L-1011 TriStar - MSN 1077) (Ex N707DA ) | Airfleets aviation". www.airfleets.net. Retrieved 2020-02-08.

External links

Portrait of N707DA the accident aircraft taking off
The Desperate Battle For SURVIVAL – Delta Air Lines 1080 Video explaining the incident

This article about an aviation accident is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[wapo-1] "The Saving Of Flight 1080". The Washington Post. 1978-10-08. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-05-19.

[tristar-2] "Flight 1080" (PDF). Tristar500.net. Retrieved 27 August 2018.

[3] "Delta's L1011 Routes - Airliners.net". www.airliners.net. Retrieved 2023-07-27.

[4] "NTSB ID: LAX77IA037". www.ntsb.gov. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-09.

[nasa-5] "NASA Technical Paper : Development and Flight Evaluation of an Emergency Digital Flight Control System Using Only Engine Thrust on an F-15 Airplane" (PDF). Nasa.gov. Retrieved 27 August 2018.

[FAA-6] "Airworthiness directives: Lockheed-California Company Model, L-1011-385 Series Airplanes" (PDF). Federal Register. 42 (176): 45631–45632. 1977-09-12.

[7] "American Trans Air N187AT (Lockheed L-1011 TriStar - MSN 1077) (Ex N707DA ) | Airfleets aviation". www.airfleets.net. Retrieved 2020-02-08.

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 ==External links==
 *[http://airliners.net/photo/Delta-Air-Lines/Lockheed-L-1011-385-1-TriStar-1/538000 Portrait of N707DA] the accident aircraft taking off
+*[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EvVIVOg1ydw&pp=ygUYQ3VyaW91cyBQaWxvdCBkZWx0YSAxMDgw| The Desperate Battle For SURVIVAL – Delta Air Lines 1080] Video explaining the incident
 {{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1977}}
 {{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in the 1970s}}

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1970s
1970	Cornfield Bomber (February 1970) Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320 (March 1970) ALM Flight 980 (May 1970)* Trans International Airlines Flight 863 (September 1970) Wichita State University football team plane crash (October 1970) Southern Airways Flight 932 (November 14 1970) Capitol International Airways Flight C2C3/26 (November 27 1970)
1971	B-52C Lake Michigan crash (January 1971) Colorado Aviation Aero Commander 680 crash (May 1971) Hughes Airwest Flight 706 (June 6 1971) Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 (June 7 1971) Pan Am Flight 845 (July 1971) Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 (September 1971) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 (See D. B. Cooper, November 1971)
1972	Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 (March 1972) Delta Air Lines Flight 9570 (May 1972) American Airlines Flight 96 (June 12 1972) Prinair Flight 191 (June 24 1972)* Lake Winnebago mid-air collision (June 29 1972) Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710 (July 5 1972) Delta Air Lines Flight 841 (July 31 1972) Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident (September 1972) Southern Airways Flight 49 (November 1972) United Air Lines Flight 553 (December 10 1972) Chicago–O'Hare runway collision (December 20 1972) Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (December 29 1972) Puerto Rico DC-7 crash (December 31 1972)*
1973	DeKalb–Peachtree Airport Learjet crash (February 1973) Ozark Air Lines Flight 809 (July 23 1973) Delta Air Lines Flight 723 (July 31 1973) TWA Flight 742 (August 1973) World Airways Flight 802 (September 8 1973) Texas International Airlines Flight 655 (September 27 1973) Pan Am Flight 160 (November 3 1973) National Airlines Flight 27 (November 3 1973) Iberia Flight 933 (December 1973)
1974	Commonwealth Commuter Flight 317 (January 6 1974) Pan Am Flight 806 (January 30 1974)* Delta Air Lines Flight 523 (February 1974) Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 (September 1974) TWA Flight 514 (December 1 1974) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231 (December 1 1974)
1975	Golden West Airlines Flight 261 (Janaury 1975) Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 (June 1975) Wien Air Alaska Flight 99 (August 1975) Overseas National Airways Flight 032 (November 1975)
1976	Alaska Airlines Flight 60 (April 5 1976) American Airlines Flight 625 (April 27 1976)* Air Manila Flight 702 (June 1976) TWA Flight 355 (September 1976)
1977	Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045 (January 1977) Southern Airways Flight 242 (April 4 1977) Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 (April 12 1977) Encino helicopter crash (August 1977) Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash (October 1977) Air Indiana Flight 216 (December 13 1977) United Airlines Flight 2860 (December 18 1977) Vieques Air Link crash (December 19 1977)*
1978	Continental Airlines Flight 603 (March 1 1978) United Airlines Flight 696 (March 13 1978) National Airlines Flight 193 (May 1978) Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 (September 25 1978) Air Caribbean Flight 309 (September 26 1978)* Rocky Mountain Airways Flight 217 (December 4 1978) TWA Flight 541 (December 21 1978) United Airlines Flight 173 (December 28 1978)
1979	TWA Flight 841 (April 1979) American Airlines Flight 191 (May 25 1979) Downeast Airlines Flight 46 (May 30 1979) Air New England Flight 248 (June 17 1979) American Airlines Flight 293 (June 20 1979) American Airlines Flight 444 (November 1979)
This list is incomplete. An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that either took place in a U.S. territory, or in adjacent waters thereof. Flying Tiger Line Flight 45 (July 1970) occurred in the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands

Revision as of 15:23, 23 December 2023

See also

References

External links