NTSB: Plane Began Veering Off LaGuardia Runway 6 Seconds After Landing
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday said a plane that skidded off the runway at LaGuardia Airport last month began veering off course six seconds after touching down.
The accident during a snowstorm on Thursday, March 5, left six passengers with minor injuries.
The NTSB said in an investigation update Thursday evening that it has examined the plane and removed several components, finding no anomalies in the plane's systems.
NTSB: Plane Began Veering Off LaGuardia Runway 6 Seconds After Landing
The agency also found four planes had landed on Runway 13 at the airport before the plane that had the accident – Delta Airlines flight 1086 from Atlanta – touched down. The last plane to land before Flight 1086 had landed three minutes earlier without incident, the NTSB said.
The agency has also found the plane was aligned with the centerline of the runway as it approached, and the autopilot was engaged until the plane was 230 feet above ground.
The main landing gear touched down close to the runway centerline at 133 knots, and the automatic flaps, or spoilers, were deployed about 2.8 seconds later, the NTSB said.
About six seconds after the main gear touchdown, the heading of the airplane began diverging left. About 14 seconds after main gear touchdown, the plane departed the left side of the runway and off course, the NTSB said.
Following the accident, the pilot on the flight told the NTSB that said the autobrake setting was at maximum, But the plane wasn't slowing.
The flight crew said the spoilers did not deploy either, and the first officer on the flight had to do it manually. Experts have said the spoilers should have deployed right away when there was weight on the wheels.
As WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported, pilot and Kreindler & Kreindler aviation attorney Brian Alexander said he is struck by another finding, that thrust reverses were applied differently on either side of the plane.
"That could've certainly contributed," he said. "I imagine that the findings will ultimately be that it did contribute, if not actually cause that left yaw."
All passengers on the plane were evacuated, 127 men, women and children. Some slid down the wing while others climbed out the rear. All found helping hands from Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ARFF team members.
