FROM THE NTSB REPORT.
About 0634 P.d.t, May 2, 1980, a McDonnell-Douglas, Inc., DC-9-80, N9M)DC, crashed
while trying to land on runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
The aircraft was on a certification test flight to determine the horizontal distance
required to land and bring the aircraft to a full stop as required. by 14 CFR 25.125 when the
accident oocurred.
Rate at touchdown exceeded the aircraft's structural limitations; the empennage separated
The aircraft touched down about 2,298 feet beyond the runway threshold. The descent
from the aircraft and fell to the runway. The aircraft came to rest about 5,634 feet beyond
the landing thresh6ld of runway 22 and was damaged substantially. Seven crewmembers were
on board; one crewmember, a flight test engineer, broke his left ankle when the aircraft
touched down.
Accident was the pilot's failure to stabilize the approach as prescribed by the manufacturer's
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this
flight test procedures. Contributing to the cause of the accident was the lack of a
requirement in the flight test procedures for other flight crewmembers to monitor and call
out the critical flight parameters. Also contributing to this accident were the flight test
procedures prescribed by the manufacturer for demonstrating the aircraft's landing
aplerrcfroarx"mt..
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http://www.alexisparkinn.com/Photogallery2/MD80_NTSBReport/AAR82-02.pdf
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