Boeing 727-214A incident near San Juan, Puerto Rico, February 9, 1992
On February 9, 1992 at about 9:10 pm local time, a Boeing 727-214A, registered N752US, suffered minor damage in an incident near San Juan, Puerto Rico (Luis Munoz Marin Int'L airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 157 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
THE FLIGHT ENGINEER'S LACK OF TRAINING IN EMERGENCY PROCEDURES AND HIS FAILURE TO FOLLOW PUBLISHED EMERGENCY PROCEDURES, RESULTING IN HIS NOT BEING ABLE TO MANUALLY EXTEND THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR, FOLLOWING THE LOSS OF THE 'A' HYDRAULIC SYSTEM. CONTRIBUTING TO THE INCIDENT WAS THE CAPTAINS FAILURE TO EXHAUST ALL AVAILABLE RESOURCES AND TIME IN ATTEMPTS TO EXTEND THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR PRIOR TO LANDING WITH THE GEAR RETRACTED.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 9, 1992 · about 9:10 pm local time
- Place
- San Juan, Puerto Rico · Luis Munoz Marin Int'L
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 157 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 727-214A · all 727-214As on the register
- Registration
- N752US · registry record · serial 21691
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
FLT LOST 'A' HYDRAULIC SYSTEM WHEN LEFT MAIN GEAR DOOR UP LINE RUPTURED DURING GEAR RETRACTION AT POINT IT HAD CHAFFED ON APU. CAPT CALLED FOR 30,000 POUNDS OF FUEL TO BE DUMPED FOLLOWED BY MANUAL EXTENSION OF THE LANDING GEAR. FLT ENG COULD NOT GET RT MAIN GEAR TO EXTEND MANUALLY. CAPT TOLD FLT ENG TO VIEW POSITION OF MAIN LANDING GEAR THROUGH VIEW PORTS IN CABIN. FLT ENG COULD NOT LOCATE THE VIEW PORTS AND RETURNED TO COCKPIT. CAPT THEN ORDERED FUEL DUMPED TO MINIMUM LEVEL AFTER WHICH A LANDING WITH RT MAIN GEAR RETRACTED WAS MADE. AFTER LANDING WHEN AIRCRAFT WAS RAISED THE RT MAIN LANDING GEAR WAS FOUND TO BE STOWED ON THE UPLOCK NORMALLY. THE GEAR WAS THEN EXTENDED FOLLOWING NORMAL MANUAL EXTENSION PROCEDURES. NO EVIDENCE OF MALFUNCTION OF THE RT MAIN GEAR WAS FOUND. THE RT MAIN GEAR EXTENDS BY CRANKING OPPOSITE DIRECTION FROM THE LEFT AND NOSE GEAR. THE FLT ENG BECAME QUALIFIED AS FLT ENG ON 11/03/91 AND HAD ACCUMULATED 200 HOURS AS FLT ENG.
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: 23,154 hours in all; 7,398 in this make and model; 173 in the last 90 days; 51 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 35,403 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, October 21, 1991; 764 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 194,800 lb
- Seats: 157
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT8D-15A (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Usair, INC.
The flight
- Destination: PHL Philadelphia PA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 8, 10,002 ft by 200 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 070° at 12 knots
- Visibility: 15 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 7,000 ft; scat at 2,500 ft
- Temperature: 81°F (27°C), dew point 72°F (22°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 8:53 pm from SJU, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 8 | |||
| Passengers | 149 |
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.
Other NTSB records under N752US the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
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.