Airbus Industrie A300-600 incident near Atlantic Ocean, AO, April 20, 1998
On April 20, 1998, a Airbus Industrie A300-600, registered N33069, was involved in an incident near Atlantic Ocean, AO. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 177 people were on board or involved. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
Malfunction of the primary navigation system for undetermined reasons.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- April 20, 1998
- Place
- Atlantic Ocean, AO
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 177 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Airbus Industrie A300-600 · all A300-600s on the register
- Registration
- N33069 · no longer on the register
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
On April 20, 1998 an incident occurred with an A300-600 in between their departure point, New York, and their destination, London Heathrow. The navigational system malfunctioned. The crew activated the secondary flight plan and the navigational system was operative. After landing, the #2 Flight Management Computer (FMC) was replaced and the navigational system checked functional. 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: American Airlines
The flight
- Departed from: New York NY
- Destination: London Heathrow OF
- 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)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 11 | |||
| Passengers | 166 |
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.