Speed Gauge Faulty on Jet That Skidded
The airspeed indicator on the jet that skidded off a snow-slick La Guardia Airport runway was not working properly during the aborted takeoff, a National Transportation Safety Board official said Friday.
An examination of the jet’s flight data recorder revealed the plane’s airspeed indicator was “out of whack” with other data from the recorder, said Susan Coughlin, NTSB vice chairman.
Thirty-five of the 116 people aboard the Denver-bound Continental Airlines MD-80 were injured Wednesday when the pilot aborted the takeoff and the plane ran off the end of the runway. It nosed down at a breakwater a few feet from Flushing Bay.
Continental Airlines said its pilot applied the brakes when his instruments indicated he could not reach takeoff speed of about 161 m.p.h. The plane used up all of the runway and overrun space to stop.
The jet’s engines were developing normal power but the airspeed indicator did not show it, Coughlin said.
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