Factual Information 9 Aircraft Accident Report
replied, “yea.” At 1619:29, the captain stated, “ok gimme sl---.” At 1619:32.8, the CVR
recorded the sound of two clicks similar to the sound of slat/flap movement. At 1619:36.6,
the CVR recorded the sound of an “extremely loud noise” and the sound of background
noise increasing, which continued until the end of the recording. At the same time, the
CVR also recorded sounds similar to loose articles moving around the cockpit. FDR data
indicated that at 1619:36.6, the flaps were extending and the slats were moving to the mid
position. The next few seconds of FDR data indicated a maximum airplane-nose-down
pitch rate of nearly 25° per second. The FDR recorded a significant decrease in vertical
acceleration values (negative Gs),
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a nose-down pitch angle, and a significant decrease in
lateral acceleration values. By 1619:40, the airplane was rolling left wing down, and the
rudder was deflected 3° to the right.
FDR data indicated that, by 1619:42, the airplane had reached its maximum valid
recorded airplane-nose-down pitch angle of -70°. At this time, the roll angle was passing
through -76° left wing down. At 1619:43, the first officer stated, “mayday,” but did not
make a radio transmission. Six seconds later, the captain stated, “push and roll, push and
roll.” FDR data indicated that, by 1619:45, the pitch angle had increased to -28°, and the
airplane had rolled to -180° (inverted). Further, the airplane had descended to 16,420 feet,
and the indicated airspeed had decreased to 208 knots.
At 1619:54, the captain stated, “ok, we are inverted…and now we gotta get it.”
FDR data indicated that at this time, the left aileron moved to more than 16° (to command
right wing down), then, during the next 6 seconds, it moved in the opposite direction to
-13° (to command left wing down). At 1619:57, the rudder returned to the near 0°
position, the flaps were retracted, and the airplane was rolling through -150° with an
airplane-nose-down pitch angle of -9°. After 1619:57, the airplane remained near inverted
and its pitch oscillated in the nose-down position.
At 1620:04, the captain stated, “push push push…push the blue side up.” At
1620:16, the captain stated, “ok now lets kick rudder…left rudder left rudder.” Two
seconds later, the first officer replied, “I can’t reach it.” At 1620:20, the captain replied,
“ok right rudder…right rudder.” At 1620:38, the captain stated, “gotta get it over
again…at least upside down we’re flyin.” At 1620:49, the CVR recorded sounds similar to
engine compressor stalls and engine spooldown.
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At 1620:54, the captain commanded
deployment of the speedbrakes, and, about 1 second later, the first officer replied, “got it.”
At 1620:56.2, the captain stated, “ah here we go.” The FDR recording ended at 1620:56.3,
and the CVR recording ended at 1620:57.1.
The airplane impacted the Pacific Ocean near Port Hueneme, California. Pieces of
the airplane wreckage were found floating on and beneath the surface of the ocean. The
main wreckage was found at 34° 03.5' north latitude and 119° 20.8' west longitude.
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A G is a unit of measurement of force on a body undergoing acceleration as a multiple of its weight.
The normal load factor for an airplane in straight and level flight is about 1 G. As the load factor decreases
from 1 G, objects become increasingly weightless, and at 0 G, those objects float.
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An engine compressor stall, or surge, results from interruption of normal airflow through the engine,
which can be caused by an engine malfunction or disturbance of inlet airflow at high angles-of-attack.