Boeing 767-232 incident near Dfw Airport, Texas, March 27, 1997
On March 27, 1997 at about 2:45 pm local time, a Boeing 767-232, registered N105DA, suffered minor damage in an incident near Dfw Airport, Texas (Dallas-Ft. Worth Intl airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 198 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The manufacturer's improper installation of the flap, which resulted in fatigue cracking of the flap attach bolts and separation of the flap.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 27, 1997 · about 2:45 pm local time
- Place
- Dfw Airport, Texas · Dallas-Ft. Worth Intl
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 198 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 767-232 · all 767-232s on the register
- Registration
- N105DA · registry record · serial 22217
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
During the landing approach, with the flaps extended to 15 degrees and the spoilers deployed, an 18-foot section of the right outboard flap separated from the trailing edge of the right wing. After making a flyby of the tower to allow controllers to view the extent of the damage, the flightcrew landed the airplane without further incident. The flap separation resulted from fatigue cracking of the four aft bolts fastening the flap to the inboard flap carriage support beam. The relief shoulders on three of the bolts exhibited thread contact marks which indicated that the attachment nuts were inserted all the way down to the relief shoulders. Either the bolt grip lengths were longer than necessary for this installation, or not enough shims were installed under the heads of the bolts or attachment nuts. Under these circumstances, the bolts most likely did not receive sufficient preload in tension, since the nuts probably bottomed onto the relief shoulders before the preload could be produced. Maintenance records indicated that the flap had not been removed from the wing since manufacture of the airplane in 1982 and had accumulated 45,577 flight hours and 22,155 flight cycles.
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, flight engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 15,000 hours in all; 150 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 45,577 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, February 15, 1997; 283 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 335,000 lb
- Seats: 207
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Ge CF6-A2 (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: MCO Orlando FL
- Destination: DFW
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 17R, 13,400 ft by 200 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 170° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 8,500 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 57°F (14°C), dew point 46°F (8°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 2:53 pm from DFW, 9 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 9 | |||
| Passengers | 189 |
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.