Incident Overview
Date: Thursday 19 January 1961
Aircraft Type: Douglas DC-8-21
Owner/operator: Aeronaves de Mxico
Registration Number: XA-XAX
Location: New York-Idlewild International Airport, NY (IDL) –
ÿ United States of America
Phase of Flight: Take off
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 106
Component Affected: Douglas DC-8-20 aircraftDouglas DC-8-20 aircraft
Investigating Agency: CABCAB
Category: Accident
A Douglas DC-8-20 aircraft crashed during takeoff from New York-Idlewild, resulting in the loss of four occupants and ten two survivors. The aircraft was aborted, and it passed through a blast fence, leading to fire and subsequent impact. The incident was attributed to an unnecessary interruption of the takeoff sequence initiated by a check pilot who did not have a pilot’s seat and did not warn of their actions.A Douglas DC-8-20 aircraft crashed during takeoff from New York-Idlewild, resulting in the loss of four occupants and ten two survivors. The aircraft was aborted, and it passed through a blast fence, leading to fire and subsequent impact. The incident was attributed to an unnecessary interruption of the takeoff sequence initiated by a check pilot who did not have a pilot’s seat and did not warn of their actions.
Description
Aeronaves de Mxico flight 401, a Douglas DC-8-20, crashed when the takeoff from New York-Idlewild was aborted and the aircraft went through a blast fence and caught fire, killing 4 occupants; 102 survived the accident. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The probable cause of the accident was the unnecessary discontinuing of the takeoff as a result of the action by the check-pilot, who was not in either pilot seat, in reaching forward without warning and pulling the throttles back This action caused power to be decreased on all four engines. Contributing factors were the marginally poor weather, snow on the runway, and the possibility of the pitot head heat not have been on.”
Primary Cause
Unnecessary interruption of the takeoff sequence initiated by a check pilot.Unnecessary interruption of the takeoff sequence initiated by a check pilot.Share on:
