Thrust Reversal - Thrust-reverse Related Accidents

Thrust-reverse Related Accidents

In-flight deployment of thrust reversers has directly contributed to the crashes of several transport-type aircraft:

• On 9 February 1982 Japan Airlines Flight 350 crashed 1,000 feet (300 m) short of the runway at Tokyo Haneda Airport following the intentional deployment of reverse thrust on two of the DC-8's four engines due to mental illness of one of the flight officers, resulting in 24 passenger deaths.
• On August 29, 1990, a Lockheed C-5A crashed shortly after take-off from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. As the aircraft started to climb off the runway, one of the thrust reversers suddenly deployed. This resulted in loss of control of the aircraft and the subsequent crash. Of the 17 people on board, only 4 survived the crash.
• On 26 May 1991 Lauda Air Flight NG004. The Boeing 767-300 aircraft suffered an uncommanded deployment of the No. 1 thrust reverser, which caused the airliner to stall and crash. All 213 passengers and 10 crew were killed.
• On October 31, 1996, TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 402. The Fokker 100 crashed shortly after take-off from Congonhas/São Paulo International Airport, São Paulo, Brazil, striking an apartment building and several houses. All 90 passengers and 6 crew members on board died. 3 people were killed on the ground. The crash was attributed to the uncommanded deployment of a faulty thrust-reverser on the right engine shortly after take-off.

At least one accident is related to a small part of a thrust reverser which had fallen off another aircraft:

• The Air France Concorde crash of 2000 was attributed to a fragment of titanium that fell from the thrust reverser of a Continental Airlines DC-10 that had taken off some four minutes earlier. This fragment was traced to a third-party parts replacement that had not been approved by the FAA.