Boeing 747-230 incident near Jamaica, New York, January 18, 1984
On January 18, 1984 at about 10:01 pm local time, a Boeing 747-230, registered DABYO, was involved in an incident near Jamaica, New York (John F. Kennedy Int'L airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under foreign airline rules (Part 129). No one was hurt; 3 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 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 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 18, 1984 · about 10:01 pm local time
- Place
- Jamaica, New York · John F. Kennedy Int'L · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 747-230 · all 747-230s on the register
- Registration
- DABYO · no longer on the register · serial 21592
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · foreign airline rules (Part 129)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT, RWY 31L WAS THE ONLY ACTIVE RWY. APRX 9 SNOW REMOVAL VEHICLES WERE BEING USED TO REMOVE SNOW FROM RWY 4L/22R. THE VEHICLE DRIVERS WERE INSTRUCTED TO HOLD SHORT OF RWY 31L, THEN BOEING 747, D-ABYO, WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF. THE PLT BEGAN HIS TAKEOFF, BUT NOTED THAT A CAR WAS APPROACHING THE RWY. HE INITIATED AN ABORTED TAKEOFF. THE DRIVER OF THE CAR THOUGHT RWY 31L WAS CLOSED. BEFORE ENTERING THE RWY, HE SAW THE ACFT & APPLIED BRAKES, BUT THE CAR SLID ONTO THE RWY. THE ACFT & CAR DID NOT COLLIDE, BUT JET EXHAUST FROM THE ACFT OVERTURNED THE CAR & INJURED THE OCCUPANTS.
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; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 13,977 hours in all; 1,034 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Maximum gross weight: 710,000 lb
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Ge CF6-50E2 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Lufthansa Airlines
The flight
- Destination: EDDF Frankfurt,Germ. OF
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 31L, 14,572 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 060° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 5 statute miles
- Sky: not recorded
- Temperature: 30°F (-1°C), dew point 28°F (-2°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 9:51 pm from JFK
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 |
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.