Boeing 747-228F incident near Houston, Texas, January 3, 2002
On January 3, 2002 at about 10:46 am local time, a Boeing 747-228F, registered FGCBG, suffered minor damage in an incident near Houston, Texas (Bush Intercontinental Airport). It was flown under foreign airline rules (Part 129). No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of the aft trunnion outer cylinder. A factor was the inadequate inspection criteria of the Airworthiness Directive to detect pre-existing SCC.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 3, 2002 · about 10:46 am local time
- Place
- Houston, Texas · Bush Intercontinental Airport · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 747-228F · all 747-228Fs on the register
- Registration
- FGCBG · no longer on the register · serial 22939
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight · foreign airline rules (Part 129)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
After a normal touchdown and rollout, the 747 cargo airplane exited the runway onto a high-speed taxiway. The captain, noticed that the airplane was "dragging," to the right. The need for additional power for taxi seemed too great, so the crew stopped taxi and applied the parking brake. On-site examination revealed the right outboard main landing gear trunnion was completely fractured and separated several inches inboard of the aft trunnion bearing. Further visual inspection of the fractured area showed evidence of corrosion and what appeared to be a pre-existing crack on the upper portion of the outer cylinder of the trunnion and a metallurgical examination showed evidence of stress corrosion cracking (SCC). The inspection criteria outlined in Airworthiness Directive (AD) repalc90-06-18 R1 required the operator to perform a visual inspection, or a visual plus eddy current inspection of the wing landing gear at the trunnion, for cracks and corrosion. The inspection criteria outlined in AD 2001-17-25 required the operator to perform a detailed visual inspection using a bore scope to find cracking and corrosion of the aft trunnion outer cylinders of the wing landing gear, within 180 days from October 3, 2001. According to the operator's records, the bore scope inspection had not been performed, as per the AD, it was not due until April 3, 2002. Historical review of Service Difficulty Reports (SDR's) revealed 19 occurrences of SCC associated with corrosion of the aft trunnion outer cylinder stressed areas. Due to these SDR data, the manufacturer issued ASB 747-32A2465 revision 1, which was mandated by a new FAA AD 2001-17-25. AD 2001-17-25 included a bore scope inspection of the affected area of the trunnion due to the fact that the propagation of SCC cracking was internal on the cylinder and not readily detected by visual or eddy current methods as per the original AD 90-06-18 R1.
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: 16,031 hours in all; 136 in the last 90 days; 72 in the last 30 days; 8,004 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
Co-pilot
- Injury: no injuries
Flight Engineer
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 81,124 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, November 27, 2001; 377 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 285,762 lb
- Seats: 3
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: General Electric CF6-50E2 (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: MMEX Mexico City at 8:45 am
- Destination: KIAH Houston TX
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 15L, 12,001 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Wind: at 0 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 27°F (-3°C), dew point 19°F (-7°C)
- Altimeter: 30.45 inHg
- Observation at 9:53 am from IAH
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 |
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.