DC8 Image: Ken Fielding/https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding
Horizontal Stabilizer Image: Olivier Cleynen – Own work by Olivier Cleynen (Photo used to layout drawing is licensed as CC-by by Flickr user gravitat-OFF])
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This is the story of trans international airlines flight 863. On the 8th of September 1970 a few pilots arrived at the operations room at JFK international airport at 2 pm, On that day they would be flying a DC 8 From JFK in new york to washington dulles international airport. The DC 8 was to takeoff from runway 13R with the first officer flying the plane and by 4:04 pm flight 863 was cleared for an immediate takeoff. The DC 8 lined up and the engines ramped up to takeoff power, as the plane pickuped up speed, the plane started to nose up, the pilots tried to bring the nose down The plane was 1,500 feet down the runway and the tail struck the runway, the plane dargged its tail along for 1200 feet as it struggled to get airborne. When the flight 863 was 2800 feet down the runway the plane finally took off, but they weren’t out of trouble just yet. Pilots watching the DC8 taking off noticed something strange, the aircraft was in an unusual nose up attitude. In the cockpit the crew were bombarded with stall warnings and stickshakers, they knew that a stall was imminent if they didn’t act fast. Meanwhile the plane climbed to 300 feet, it was now passing 60 degrees of pitch some say it was 90 degrees, but with the nose up so high the plane couldnt keep itself in the air, Flight 863 rolled to the right a bit and then the left wing and the nose dropped , as the DC8 fell from the sky like a stone.
The resulting fire engulfed the airplane. None of the 11 people onboard survived.
The aircraft that had been in the accident, N4863T wasnt even two years old,in the grand scheme of things that’s brand new. Because of that this plane was in great condition, the engines were all fine, the pitch trim compensator had been replaced in 1969 but other than that this plane was in perfect flying order, there was no reason that they could see for this perfectly functioning plane to literally drop out of the sky.
If you’ve been a long time viewer of the channel, the crash of flight 863 might remind you of another video that I did, pan am flight 799, link on screen right now. In that incident the pilots forgot to extend the flaps on takeoff for a few complex reasons, but when they examined the wreck of flight 863 the investigators found that the plane was perfectly configured for takeoff.the flaps and slats were out the plane was trimmed correctly, the weight of the plane seemed to be within bounds.
When they were examining the wreck they came across something strange, the spar web access door on the right hand stabilizer had been punctured by something. The spar web access door is this small access hatch on top of the horizontal stabilizer which gives technicians access to the innards of the stabilizer. The Horizontal stabilizer at the back of a plane looks like one contiguous piece of metal but its not, its divided up into the horizontal stabilizer and the elevator, They’re two separate pieces joined together by attachments and linkages, with a small bit of space between them
On the face of the elevator that faced the hole they found gouges and scratches and a few tiny stones. In the tail assembly they found small tar covered stones 1-2 inches in diameter, those weren’t supposed to be there. More interestingly, they found trace amounts of asphaltic material around the hole that had been made in the access door of the horizontal stabilizer.
source
Pebble: 1
Plane: 0
It would seem to me that the most likely reason a stone was stuck in the elevator, and more up in the tail section, is from dragging the goddamn tail 1200 ft down the runway. There was another primary cause for the nose to be prematurely lifting up. The plane's center of gravity could have been off due to how it was loaded. The pilot has to set the trim according to the load balance to take off properly. The stones in the tail were a direct effect of the tail dragging down the runway.
Great video! We've learned a lot since then. Light airplanes get into trouble trying to continue and heavies get into trouble trying to stop. However, an uncommanded pitch up at 80kts would now be a no-brainer abort. Flight control failures are among the most challenging- the Delta L-1011 out of LAX that managed to land safely, the JAL 747 crash and the United Sioux City crash which was a tragic miracle.
Very interesting video. Not one I have heard about. And that is why I love your channel. You have shown us incidents that are more unknown. Thank you!!
Please do thai airways flight 266!
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The problem I have with air travel is virtually defined in this case. Let us say something similar happens while I'm driving my old Ford down the road. Something that hinders my ability to control it. Such as recently I've noticed that my carburetor is making the engine hold a faster idle than I prefer. This happens before the old girl is warmed up.
A sticky idle means that the truck wants to go 15 to 18 mph when I only want to go 5 mph. This necessitates keeping my foot harder on the brake than I prefer. In fact if I'm not careful this condition could lead to an accident.
And yet unlike the DC-8 that must either reject the takeoff OR go for it? I've got numerous options. I can shift into neutral to get the truck to stop going forward. Or could turn the engine off with the key.
Next even if those two corrections fail I've still got my brake and steering. Similarly I'm not required to even keep the truck in traffic.
Meanwhile the pilot of the DC-8 absolutely MUST keep his equipment airborne.
Further: Most resulting accidents from a sticky idle aren't even serious and unlikely to spill fuel and cause a fire.
Whereas almost all plane crashes result in serious conditions.
What is this game?
This is very odd that a new plane crass it only a year old and it crashes
We do a control check as we lineup on the runway
My uncle had a stone jam the joystick on his light aircraft shortly after take off. He landed it in the field nearby with only rudder, trim and throttle and would've been unscathed had that bloody cow not got in his way and wrecked the wing!
I was with TIA at the time and worked part of this incident. You did a very accurate depiction of the event.
i believe that a stone inside this is possible, but i would not have thought of that
I've watched many of your videos. You do a great job. Keep it up.
I actually remember reading an interview with an airline engineer who was just leaving JFK after his work shift when he heard right above him the scream of stalling engines, and looked up to see the big DC-8 fall out of the sky. He even tended to the crash site along with fire services and rescuers. He said he was haunted by the experience and the images for years afterwards.
This is a VERY good video! Well done.
Should have rejected the take off plain and simple
Anything that CAN happen, WILL happen, on a long enough timeline…
I wonder if rejected takeoffs these days are treated the same as go-arounds (that is, no fault system). It's rather infuriating that something can go so wrong and the pilots not even think to stop the plane.
This led to the DC-8 takeoff procedure–at 80 knots, pilot flying momentarily pushes forward on the yoke to be sure the elevators react (nose down). Did it may times.
The Pilot should have aborted for a tail drag.
CNN…TRUMPS FAULT..GLOBAL WARMING..BIDEN IS GOOD
Usually prior to takeoff the pilots check for the full and free movement of the controls.
FOD walks are done for a reason. It's not a social event. It's to help keep people alive.
Apparently I'm dyslexic because I thought this was going to be about how a Stoned Passenger Crashed a Jet.
I agree with pilot error. Irregular pitch and dragging of the tail should have alerted the captain that something was wrong. RIP to the occupants.