Airbus Industrie A-300-B4-203 incident near Denver, Colorado, August 3, 1987
On August 3, 1987 at about 6:40 pm local time, a Airbus Industrie A-300-B4-203, registered N966C, suffered minor damage in an incident near Denver, Colorado (Stapleton Int'L airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 279 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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 October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 3, 1987 · about 6:40 pm local time
- Place
- Denver, Colorado · Stapleton Int'L · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 279 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Airbus Industrie A-300-B4-203 A300-B4-20 · all A-300-B4-203s on the register
- Registration
- N966C · no longer on the register · serial 0117
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
AS COPLT ACCELERATED ACFT THROUGH 128 KTS FOR TAKEOFF, ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION OCCURRED RESULTING IN UNRELIABLE INSTRUMENT INDICATIONS. CAPT REJECTED TAKEOFF. ACFT WENT OFF END OF 12000-FT RWY. POST-INCIDENT EXAMINATION DISCLOSED NO. 1 CONSTANT SPEED DRIVE (CSD) OUTPUT SLOWED DUE TO OIL LEAKAGE. GENERATOR CONTROL UNIT TRIPPED AND OPENED LINE CONTACTOR. WITH REMOVAL OF ELECTRICAL LOAD, CSD OUTPUT SPEED INCREASED & ELECTRICAL LOAD REAPPLIED. CYCLE REPEATED ITSELF EVERY 0.84 SECONDS. CSD HAD NEVER BEEN OVERHAULED IN 10 YRS OF SERVICE. CVR/DFDR REVEALED ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION OCCURRED AT 1240:12 & ABORT COMMAND GIVEN AT 1240:29. AT 1240:26, WHEN PWR WAS RESTORED TO DFDR, ACFT WAS DECELERATING THRU 171.08 KIAS. V1,VR, & V2 COMPUTED TO BE 161, 161, AND 165 KTS & ACCELERATE-STOP DISTANCE ABOUT 11,500 FT. INVESTIGATION FURTHER REVEALED ACFT GREEN BRAKE SYSTEM INOP & YELLOW SYSTEM USED. ADDITIONALLY, NO. 7 BRAKE ANTISKID INOP. BOTH ARE ALLOWABLE DEFERRED MAINTENANCE ITEMS.
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, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 12,100 hours in all; 661 in this make and model; 97 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 11,147 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, February 12, 1987; 1,686 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 319,500 lb
- Seats: 273
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Ge CF6-50C2 (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: DEN at 6:40 pm
- Destination: SEA Seattle WA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 35R, 12,000 ft by 200 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 010° at 11 knots
- Visibility: 30 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 25,000 ft; scat at 9,000 ft
- Temperature: 77°F (25°C), dew point 55°F (13°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 6:50 pm from DEN
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 11 | |||
| Passengers | 268 |
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.