Fokker F-28-4000 incident near Evansville, Indiana, November 23, 1994
On November 23, 1994 at about 6:34 pm local time, a Fokker F-28-4000, registered N479AU, was involved in an incident near Evansville, Indiana (Evansville airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 53 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the failure of company maintenance personnel to adequately service (fill) the horizontal stabilizer drive actuator with hydraulic fluid.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 23, 1994 · about 6:34 pm local time
- Place
- Evansville, Indiana · Evansville
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 53 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Fokker F-28-4000
- Registration
- N479AU · no longer on the register · serial 11228
- 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 FLIGHT CREW REPORTED THAT WHILE DESCENDING FROM CRUISE IN PREPARATION FOR LANDING, THEY NOTICED THAT THE HORIZONTAL STABILIZER WAS NOT RESPONDING TO TRIM INPUTS. THE AUTOPILOT WAS DISENGAGED, AND BOTH NORMAL AND ALTERNATE MODES OF STABILIZER TRIM WAS ATTEMPTED WITHOUT SUCCESS. THE CREW FOLLOWED THE JAMMED STABILIZER APPROACH CHECKLIST, AND WAS ABLE TO EFFECT PITCH CHANGES BY BOTH CREW MEMBERS EXERTING FORCE ON THEIR CONTROL YOKES. POSTINCIDENT INSPECTION OF THE STABILIZER DRIVE ACTUATOR DISCOVERED NO HYDRAULIC LEAKS. THE ACTUATOR'S GEAR BOX WAS DRAINED, AND FOUND TO CONTAIN APPROXIMATELY ONE OUNCE OF MURKY, SLUDGE-LIKE HYDRAULIC FLUID. THE GEAR BOX IS REQUIRED TO BE FILLED WITH SEVEN OUNCES OF HYDRAULIC FLUID. THE ACTUATORS ARE SHIPPED FROM THE MANUFACTURER ESSENTIALLY DEVOID OF HYDRAULIC FLUID, WITH INSTRUCTIONS THAT THEY MUST BE FILLED PRIOR TO SERVICE.
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, flight engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 7,434 hours in all; 256 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 18,679 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, August 4, 1994; 734 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 71,000 lb
- Seats: 50
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Rolls-Royce (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: PIT Pittsburgh PA at 5:36 pm
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 310° at 13 knots
- Visibility: 15 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 48°F (9°C), dew point 21°F (-6°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 6:50 pm from EVV
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 4 | |||
| Passengers | 49 |
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 N479AU 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.