Boeing 727-227 incident near Las Vegas, Nevada, October 17, 1984
On October 17, 1984 at about 1:54 pm local time, a Boeing 727-227, registered N722AA, was involved in an incident near Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 30 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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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 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 17, 1984 · about 1:54 pm local time
- Place
- Las Vegas, Nevada · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 30 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 727-227 · all 727-227s on the register
- Registration
- N722AA · registry record · serial 20730
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
AN UNCOMMANDED DEPLOYMENT OF THE #8 LEADING EDGE SLAT OCCURRED DURING A CLIMB. CONTROL OF THE ACFT WAS NOT AFFECTED & THE FLT CONTINUED TO THE DESTINATION. THE CREW ATTEMPT TO RECYCLE THE SLATS, BUT TO NO AVAIL. AN EXAM OF THE #8 SLAT ACTUATOR DID NOT DISCLOSE A MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE. HOWEVER, BOEING DID REPORT THE ACTUATOR RETRACT LOCK SWITCH DISPLAYED EVIDENCE OF AN INTERMITTENT MALFUNCTION THAT COULD HAVE FALSELY INDICATED THAT THE ACTUATOR WAS RETRACTED, WHEN IN REALITY IT HAD NOT.
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
What happened, in order
- AIRFRAME/COMPONENT/SYSTEM FAILURE/MALFUNCTION during climb - to cruise
Pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land, none, APLN, none
- Medical certificate: class 1
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 32,671 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, May 9, 1983; 4,241 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 135,400 lb
- Seats: 134
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT8D-9 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operating certificate: in the vicinity
The flight
- Departed from: LAS Las Vegas NV at 1:44 pm
- Destination: LAX Los Angeles CA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 230° at 22 knots, gusting 30
- Visibility: 50 statute miles
- Sky: scattered at 9,000 ft
- Temperature: 59°C, dew point 34°C
- Altimeter: 29 inHg
- Observation at 1:48 pm from LAS, 10 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 7 | |||
| Passengers | 23 |
Other NTSB records under N722AA the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number LAX85IA023.