Boeing 727-2M7 incident near Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 25, 1984
On July 25, 1984 at about 7:50 pm local time, a Boeing 727-2M7, registered N721RW, was involved in an incident near Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 127 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
Preview. This page is not yet listed for search engines.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made September 29, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 25, 1984 · about 7:50 pm local time
- Place
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 127 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 727-2M7 · all 727-2M7s on the register
- Registration
- N721RW · registry record · serial 21200
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE CREW REPORTED THAT THEY NOTICED A DECREASE IN CLIMB RATE WHILE OVER RAPID CITY, SD, EN ROUTE FROM MSP TO SFO AT FLT LEVEL 310. THE PLT NOTED FUEL BURN WAS APRX 1400 LBS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. IN-FLT INSPECTION REVEALED THAT THE INBOARD TRAILING EDGE FLAPS HAD FAILED TO RETRACT PROPERLY AFTER TAKEOFF AND REMAINED IN A 7 DEG DOWN POSITION. THE FLT RETURNEDTO MINNEAPOLIS AND LANDED AT 1540 CDT (APRX 50 MINS AFTER THE INCIDENT). A POST FLT INSPECTION DISCLOSED THAT THE INBOARD FLAP CONTROL VALVE HAD FAILED. THE FLT CREW SAID THAT THIS MALFUNCTION HAD OCCURRED ON A PREVIOUS FLT AND HAD BEEN REPORTED. THE FLAPS HAD GROUND CHECKED OK BOTH ON THIS & THE PREVIOUS OCCASION. THIS REPORTED FAILURE WAS CORRECTEDBY REPUBLIC AIRLINES MAINTENANCE BY REPLACEMENT OF A FLAP CONTROL VALVE AND INSPECTION OF THE RIGGING IN ACCORDANCE WITHBOEING MAINTENANCE MANUAL 27-51-51, AFTER THIS INCIDENT.
The NTSB's narratives can run to many pages; this is the opening. Read the full report at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database and is rewritten in plain English only where the NTSB used codes; the probable cause and narrative are the NTSB's own words. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number CHI84IA314.