McDonnell Douglas MD-80 Notable accidents and incidents

As of February 2013, the MD-80 series has been involved in 61 incidents,[26] including 31 hull-loss accidents,[27] with 1,330 fatalities of occupants.[28]
Notable accidents and incidents[edit]
On December 1, 1981, Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308, an MD-81 (YU-ANA) crashed into Corsica's Mt. San Pietro during a holding pattern for landing at Campo dell'Oro Airport, Ajaccio, France. All 180 passengers and crew were killed. This was the first-ever fatal incident involving the MD-80 series in non-U.S. service.
On August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255, an MD-82 crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport due to flight crew's failure to use the taxi checklist to ensure the flaps and slats were extended for takeoff according to theNTSB. All crew and passengers were killed with the exception of a 4-year-old girl, Cecelia Cichan.[29]
On December 27, 1991, SAS Flight 751, an MD-81 OY-KHO "Dana Viking" crash-landed at Gottröra, Sweden. In the initial climb, both engines ingested ice broken loose from the wings (which had not been properly de-iced before departure). The ice damaged the compressor blades causing compressor stall. The stall further caused repeated engine surges that finally destroyed both engines, leaving the aircraft with no propulsion. The aircraft landed in a snowy field and broke in three parts. No fire occurred and all aboard survived.
On July 6, 1996, Delta Air Lines Flight 1288, an MD-88 attempting to take off from Pensacola Regional Airport experienced an uncontained, catastrophic turbine engine failure that caused debris from the front compressor hub of the number one left engine to penetrate the left aft fuselage. The impact left two passengers dead and two severely injured; all were from the same family. The pilot aborted takeoff and the airplane stopped on the runway.
On June 1, 1999, American Airlines Flight 1420, an MD-82 attempting to land in severe weather conditions at Little Rock Airport overshot the runway and crashed into the banks of the Arkansas River. Eleven people, including the captain, died.
On January 31, 2000, Alaska Airlines Flight 261, an MD-83, crashed in the Pacific Ocean, due to loss of horizontal stabilizer control.[30] All 88 passengers and crew on board were killed. Following the crash, an Acme nut and jackscrew recovered from the aircraft were found to be excessively worn[31] and found to be the cause of the crash due to inadequate maintenance. The FAA ordered airlines to inspect and lubricate the jackscrew more frequently.[32]
On October 8, 2001, Scandinavian Airlines Flight 686, a MD-87 SE-DMA collided with a small Cessna jet during take-off at Linate Airport, Milan, Italy. The Linate Airport disaster left 118 people dead. The cause of the accident was a misunderstanding between air traffic controllers and the Cessna jet, and the SAS crew had no role in causing the accident. Also the ground movement radar was inoperative at the time of the accident.
On May 7, 2002, China Northern Airlines Flight 6136, an MD-82, from Beijing to Dalian, crashed into Bohai Bay near Dalian, after the pilot reported "fire on board". All 112 people on board were killed. Investigators determined that the fire had been set by a suicidal passenger.
On November 30, 2004, Lion Air Flight 538, an MD-82 crashed on landing at Adi Sumarmo Airport in Surakarta, Indonesia, and overran the end of the runway, causing of the deaths of 25 passengers and crew.
On August 16, 2005, West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, an MD-82 crashed in a mountainous region in northwest Venezuela killing all 152 passengers and eight crew.[33]
On March 4, 2006, Lion Air Flight 8987, an MD-82, after landing at Juanda International Airport, applied reverse thrust although the reversers were stated to be out of order. This caused the aircraft to veer to the right and skid off the runway coming to rest 7,000 ft (2,100 m) from the approach end of Runway 10. No one was killed, but the aircraft sustained $3 million in damage.[34]
On March 16, 2007, a Kish Air MD-82, registration LZ-LDD leased from Bulgarian Air Charter was damaged beyond repair in a hard landing accident in Kish, Iran. There were no fatalities.
On September 16, 2007, One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269, an MD-82 crashed at the side of the runway and exploded after an apparent attempt to execute a go-around in bad weather at Phuket International Airport in Phuket, Thailand. Eighty-nine of the 130 passengers and crew on board were killed.[35][36]
On November 30, 2007, Atlasjet Flight 4203, an MD-83 crashed in the southwestern province of Isparta, Turkey, killing all 57 passengers and 7 crew.[37] The cause of the crash was attributed to pilot spatial disorientation.
Between March 26 and March 27, 2008 and then again between April 8 and April 12, 2008, an FAA safety audit of American Airlines forced the airline to ground its entire fleet of MD-80 series aircraft (approximately 300), to inspect the aircraft's hydraulic wiring. American was forced to cancel nearly 2,500 flights in March and over 3,200 in April.[38] In addition, Delta Air Lines inspected its own MD-80 fleet to ensure its 117 MD-80s were also operating within regulation. This prompted Delta to cancel 275 flights.[39]
On August 20, 2008, Spanair Flight 5022, an MD-82 registration EC-HFP, from Madrid's Barajas Airport crashed shortly after takeoff on a flight to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. The MD-82 had 162 passengers and ten crew on board, of whom 18 survived. The crash was caused by attempting to take off with the flaps and slats retracted. The flight crew omitted the "set flaps and slats" item in both the After Start checklist and the Takeoff Imminent checklist.[40]
On November 19, 2009, Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Flight 3711, MD-82 9Q-CAB, overran the runway on landing at Goma International Airport, and suffered substantial damage. The overrun area was contaminated by solidified lava.[41]
On June 21, 2010, Hewa Bora Airways Flight 601, MD-82 9Q-COQ, burst a tire on take-off from N'djili Airport, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Hydraulic systems and port engine were damaged and the nose gear did not lower when the aircraft returned to N'djili. All 110 people on board escaped uninjured. The airline blamed the state of the runway for the accident, but investigators found no fault with the runway.[42]
On January 24, 2012, Swiftair Flight 94, MD-83 registration EC-JJS, suffered a wingtip strike while landing at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan. Although there were no injuries among the 92 passengers and crew on board, the starboard wing sustained a broken main spar and the aircraft was damaged beyond economic repair. It was consequently scrapped at Kandahar.[43]
On June 3, 2012, Dana Air Flight 992, an MD-83 registration 5N-RAM, crashed into a two-story building in Lagos, Nigeria, caused by engine failure. All 153 passengers and crew on board were killed, as well as 10 on the ground.[44][45][46][47]
On July 24, 2014, Air Algérie Flight 5017, a scheduled flight from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to Algiers, Algeria operated by a MD-83 leased from Swiftair, with 110 passengers and 6 crew on board crashed near Gao, Mali after violent storms in the area.[48]