Boeing 737-200 accident near Nashville, Tennessee, July 8, 1996
On July 8, 1996 at about 12:41 pm local time, a Boeing 737-200, registered N53SW, suffered minor damage in an accident near Nashville, Tennessee (Nashville International airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). 1 person was seriously injured and 4 people had minor injuries; 122 others were unhurt. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the captain's improper rejected takeoff, in that the takeoff was rejected after V1, and the flight attendants' improper use of the evacuation procedure, in that an evacuation was independently initiated without the captain's approval, and without assessing the condition and location of the fire. Factors related to the accident were: bird ingestion in the left engine near lift-off speed during the takeoff roll, and company's inadequate Crew Resource Management (CRM) training for flight attendants.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 8, 1996 · about 12:41 pm local time
- Place
- Nashville, Tennessee · Nashville International · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured and 4 people had minor injuries; 122 others were unhurt.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 737-200 · all 737-200s on the register
- Registration
- N53SW · registry record · serial 21534
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
During the takeoff roll, after V1 was called by the first officer, a bird was ingested in the left engine, resulting in a compressor stall. The captain (capt) initiated a rejected takeoff as VR was called. The airplane continued accelerating momentarily, & V1 was exceeded by 10 kts, resulting in an overrun of the runway. After stopping on the overrun, the capt made a PA announcement for the passengers to remain seated. Fire/rescue personnel arrived, confirmed there was no fire, & noted the tires were deflating & smoking (due to excessive brake temperature from the rejected takeoff which melted the fuse plugs & deflated the tires). Evacuation slides were dearmed, & the cabin doors were opened for ventilation. Fire erupted from the right brake & was immediately extinguished by fire personnel. Hearing a fireman shout 'fire,' the flight attendants (FAs) at the forward & aft entry doors commanded an evacuation without informing the capt that a fire had been reported, without communicating 1st with each other, & without determining the location of the fire. To evacuate, they closed the cabin doors, rearmed the slides, & began the evacuation. During evacuation, 1 passenger was seriously injured; 4 received minor injuries. The airline company did not provided 'joint' Crew Resource Management (CRM) training to flight deck crews & FAs. Two of 3 FAs said they had not received company CRM training.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 6,000 hours in all; 4,400 in this make and model; 180 in the last 90 days; 110 in the last 30 days; 1,633 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 58,873 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme; 16 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 115,500 lb
- Seats: 130
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT8D-9 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: BNA at 12:40 pm
- Destination: MDW Chicago IL
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 20C, 8,000 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 220° at 9 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 900 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 73°F (23°C), dew point 70°F (21°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 12:53 pm from BNA, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 5 | |||
| Passengers | 1 | 4 | 117 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N53SW the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.