Boeing 727-200 incident near St. Thomas, October 17, 1988
On October 17, 1988 at about 5:20 pm local time, a Boeing 727-200, registered N706AA, suffered minor damage in an incident near St. Thomas (Cyril E. King airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 131 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, 1988 · about 5:20 pm local time
- Place
- St. Thomas · Cyril E. King
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 131 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 727-200 · all 727-200s on the register
- Registration
- N706AA · registry record · serial 22463
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE RT WING WAS DRAGGED WHILE LDG IN A CROSSWIND ON RWY 10. THE CREW STATED THE APRCH WAS NORMAL & THE TOUCHDOWN WAS SMOOTH ON THE RT GEAR WITH 3 DEGREES TO 5 DEGREES OF RT BANK. THE CAPT STATED THAT IMMED AFTER TOUCHDOWN, THE LT WING CAME UP SUDDENLY AND HE RAPIDLY CORRECTED WITH AILERON. HE STATED THE REMAINDER OF THE ROLLOUT WAS NORMAL & THE CREW WAS UNAWARE THAT THE RT WING HAD CONTACTED THE RWY UNTIL LATER.
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
- DRAGGED WING,ROTOR,POD,FLOAT OR TAIL/SKID during landing - flare/touchdown
Pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land, none, APLN, none
- Flight time: 20,000 hours in all; 1,750 in this make and model; 95 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: class 1
The aircraft
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme
- Maximum gross weight: 142,000 lb
- Seats: 134
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT8D (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: American Airlines, INC.
- Operating certificate: in the vicinity
The flight
- Departed from: SJU San Juan PR
- Destination: STT St. Thomas
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 10, 5,348 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 120° at 16 knots
- Visibility: 9 statute miles
- Sky: scattered at 2,000 ft
- Temperature: 88°C, dew point 73°C
- Altimeter: 29 inHg
- Observation at 4:45 pm from STT
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 7 | |||
| Passengers | 124 |
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 MIA89IA012.