Boeing 727F incident near Atlanta, Georgia, March 3, 1997
On March 3, 1997, a Boeing 727F, registered N465FE, suffered minor damage in an incident near Atlanta, Georgia. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). The NTSB record does not give the injuries. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
A jammed elevator resulting from a backed-off elevator trim tab nut.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 3, 1997
- Place
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- The NTSB record does not give the injuries.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Boeing 727F · all 727Fs on the register
- Registration
- N465FE · no longer on the register
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
On March 3, 1997, A Federal Express Airlines Boeing 727F, N465FE, experienced a flight control malfunction while standing with engines running, at Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia. An elevator trim tab casting nut was found backed off and jammed the elevator. No additional information is available.
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
- Medical certificate: Unknown
- Seat: unk
The aircraft
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: (type not recorded); 0 hours total
- Not recorded
- Operator: Federal Express Airlines
The flight
- Flight plan: not recorded
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: not reported
- Sky: not recorded; not recorded
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
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.