Lockheed L-1011-385-1 incident near Saint Louis, Missouri, May 15, 1997
On May 15, 1997 at about 3:25 pm local time, a Lockheed L-1011-385-1, registered N11003, suffered minor damage in an incident near Saint Louis, Missouri (Lambert St Louis Intl airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 187 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
failure of company maintenance personnel to properly install a mounting eyebolt (and associated cotter pin, washer, spacer and castellated nut) on the lower forward bracket of the left main landing gear strut door.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 15, 1997 · about 3:25 pm local time
- Place
- Saint Louis, Missouri · Lambert St Louis Intl · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 187 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Lockheed L-1011-385-1 L-1011-385
- Registration
- N11003 · registry record · serial 193B-1015
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
About 28 minutes after takeoff, while climbing through FL290, the flight crew heard a loud bang of short duration. A check of the airplane was performed with no abnormalities discovered, except for a slight vibration near the left wing area. Postflight examination of the airplane revealed the left main landing gear strut door had separated from the airplane. Also under-wing damage was noted in that area. There was evidence that initial failure of the door mounting points occurred when the crew heard the loud noise, but final separation of the door occurred during final approach for landing. The door landed in downtown Saint Louis. During examination of the door's lower forward mounting bracket, rounded threads were found on the mounting eyebolt, and associated hardware was missing. The missing hardware consisted of a spacer, washer, castellated nut and cotter pin. All other mounting points had signs of overload fractures. Maintenance was last performed in this area on 5/7/97.
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: 15,163 hours in all; 4,045 in this make and model; 200 in the last 90 days; 63 in the last 30 days; 5,690 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 554 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, February 28, 1997
- Maximum gross weight: 430,000 lb
- Seats: 271
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Rolls-Royce RB211-22B (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: MCO Orlando FL at 1:01 pm
- Destination: STL
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 30L, 11,019 ft by 200 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 320° at 19 knots, gusting 24
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 10,000 ft
- Temperature: 61°F (16°C), dew point 30°F (-1°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 4:55 pm from STL
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 11 | |||
| Passengers | 176 |
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.
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.