Airbus Industrie A320-232 incident near Jamaica, New York, January 21, 2001
On January 21, 2001 at about 1:08 pm local time, a Airbus Industrie A320-232, registered N509JB, was involved in an incident near Jamaica, New York (John F. Kennedy airport). It was flown under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 145 people were on board or involved. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's decision to perform an auto rollout on a snow contaminated runway, which had not been demonstrated, and which resulted in a loss of directional control, when the capability of the autoland system to maintain directional control was exceeded. Factors were the failure of the control tower to ensure that the results of the latest MU reading were available to the pilots, the crosswind, and the snow covered runway.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 21, 2001 · about 1:08 pm local time
- Place
- Jamaica, New York · John F. Kennedy · map
- Type
- Incident · collision on the ground
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 145 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Airbus Industrie A320-232 · all A320-232s on the register
- Registration
- N509JB · registry record · serial 1270
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The flight crew planned and briefed for an autoland to runway 4R, with winds from 340 degrees at 17 knots, and gusts to 23 knots. The runway had been plowed, and was covered with thin wet snow. On final approach to runway 4R, the control tower gave the pilots winds from 340 degrees at 15 knots, and braking action poor. About 1 second after nose wheel touchdown, the airplane deviated left and the auto-pilot system corrected back. About 11 seconds after touchdown, the airplane deviated left again, did not correct back, and the pilot disconnected the autopilot to regain directional control. He was unable to restore runway heading, and kept the airplane straight as it departed the runway on the left side. The MU readings given to the flight crew, and on the ATIS, of .28, .28, and .26 were 5 hours old. A more recent MU reading of .21, .23, and .24, was 3 hours old, and had not been placed on the ATIS. The control tower did not have a tracking procedure in place for adding revised MU readings to the ATIS, nor was it required. However, airport operations personnel reported they had transmitted the revised readings to the control tower. The airplane FCOM stated, "...automatic roll out performance has been approved on dry and wet runway, but performance has not been demonstrated on snow covered or icy runway." Heavy snow had been falling earlier. Light snow was reported at the 0506 and all subsequent weather observations. The runway was last plowed and treated 3 hours earlier. An FAA inspector reported the runway condition was loose snow over patches of hard packed snow and ice.
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, flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 11,500 hours in all; 665 in this make and model; 7,500 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: October 11, 2000
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
Co-pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor, commercial pilot, private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 11,497 hours in all; 180 in this make and model; 180 in the last 90 days; 44 in the last 30 days
- Last flight review: November 2, 2000
- Medical certificate: Class 1
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 1,801.9 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, January 16, 2001; 42 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 169,754 lb
- Seats: 168
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: International Aero Engines V2527-A5 (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: ONT Ontario CA at 7:59 am
- Destination: JFK Jamaica NY
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 4R, 11,351 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 320° at 16 knots
- Visibility: 2 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 3,300 ft; scat at 1,500 ft
- Temperature: 23°F (-5°C), dew point 19°F (-7°C)
- Altimeter: 29.90 inHg
- Observation at 12:51 pm from JFK, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 6 | |||
| Passengers | 139 |
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.