Flight crew mistakes precipitated by fatigue caused the 1June 1999 American Airlines Boeing MD-82 fatal accident at Little Rock, USA, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) final report. The NTSB has recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration should "establish within two years scientifically based hours-of-service regulations" which consider rest schedules and circadian rhythm effects.
The aircraft landed on runway 04R near midnight in a thunderstorm and overran the runway, breaking up and killing the captain and ten passengers when the aircraft hit stanchions supporting runway approach lights. There were six crew and 139 passengers on board.
The crew's mistakes started with their hope that, after nearly 13.5h on duty, they would not have to divert because of bad weather. The report says: "Because the first officer was able to maintain visual contact with the runway as the airplane was vectored for the final approach course, both flight crew members might still have believed flight 1420 could arrive at the airport before the storm. When the second windshear alert was received, the flight crew should have recognised that the approach to runway 04R should not continue because the maximum crosswind component for conducting the landing had been exceeded." Then during the approach checks the crew missed arming the spoilers for landing, and finally failed to deploy them manually.
The NTSB also criticised the crew's selection of manual rather than automatic braking, and the use of more than the recommended maximum reverse thrust power, which reduced directional control. The report remarks: "The flight crew's...degraded performance was consistent with known effects of fatigue."
Source: Flight International
