Boeing 727-225A incident near Jamaica, New York, March 11, 1987
On March 11, 1987, a Boeing 727-225A, registered N802EA, suffered minor damage in an incident near Jamaica, New York (John F. Kennedy Int'L airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 127 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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
- March 11, 1987
- Place
- Jamaica, New York · John F. Kennedy Int'L · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 127 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 727-225A · all 727-225As on the register
- Registration
- N802EA · registry record · serial QA668
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
AS EA32 TAXIED FROM A STOPPED POSITION ON TAXIWAY NA BETWEEN THE OUTER AND INNER TO THE EASTERN RAMP, A U.S. POSTAL TRACTOR WITH AN EMPTY BOX TRAVELING NE FAILED TO YIELD TO THE AIRCRAFT AND THEY COLLIDED ON THE SERVICE ROAD AND TAXIWAY NA.
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; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 14,320 hours in all; 70 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 19,862 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Maximum gross weight: 169,000 lb
- Seats: 195
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT8D-9 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Eastern Airlines, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: TPA Tampa FL at 9:15 pm
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 7 | |||
| Passengers | 120 |
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 N802EA 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.