N114NN

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn April 10, 2019, about 2040 eastern daylight time, American Airlines flight 300, an Airbus A321, N114NN, experienced a left roll during takeoff from runway 31L at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Queens, New York. During the left roll, the airplane’s left wingtip struck the ground and a runway distance marker on the left side of the runway. The flight crew completed the takeoff and safely returned to the airport 28 minutes later. None of the 110 occupants aboard the airplane were injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The regularly scheduled passenger flight was operating under the provisions of Title 14 Code Federal Regulations Part 121 from JFK to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Los Angeles, California. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

The day of the accident was the second day of a 2-day crew pairing. The flight crew had operated a flight that departed the previous night from LAX and arrived at JFK about 0700 on the day of the accident. The crew then went to a local hotel for scheduled rest. The crewmembers reported for the accident flight about 1 hour 15 minutes before departure. The first officer conducted the preflight walk-around, and both crewmembers reviewed the weather and route of flight. According to the captain, everything was “looking good.”

The airplane pushed back from the gate on time. The crew selected the flaps 1 setting, taxied to runway 31L, and held short of the runway. The captain (the pilot flying) stated that the taxi was “exactly the way I had done it before.”

According to the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), the tower controller cleared the flight to line up and wait at 2038:43, and the captain taxied the airplane onto the runway. The captain stated, during a postaccident interview, that the first officer (the pilot monitoring) noticed the windsock and reported that the flight could depart with the wind component.

At 2039:48, the controller cleared the flight for takeoff and reported that the wind was from 010° at 17 knots. According to the digital flight data recorder (DFDR), as the airplane accelerated during the takeoff roll, thrust was applied symmetrically, and no braking asymmetry and nose wheel steering inputs occurred. Left rudder pedal inputs ranged between 0° and 13° as the airplane accelerated, consistent with a right crosswind. The airplane’s heading was 315°. During a postaccident interview, the captain reported that, when he applied left rudder, it felt as if he was using more force with his left leg. The captain further stated that he kept the airplane near the runway centerline and that, when the airplane reached at 80 knots, “everything was ok.” (The CVR recorded the first officer’s 80-knot callout at 2040:13.)

The first officer made the takeoff decision speed (V1) callout at 2040:30, indicating that the airplane had reached 150 knots. According to the captain, sometime between that callout and the first officer’s rotate callout (which occurred less than 2 seconds later to indicate that the airplane had reached 156 knots), the airplane made a “significant” turn to the left. DFDR data showed that, as the airplane accelerated to 156 knots, the captain’s left rudder input increased from about 8° to 25° during a 1.5-second period. The airplane’s lateral acceleration increased from 0.11 to 0.32 G, and its heading started to veer left of course. The captain then applied full aft sidestick (airplane nose up) and right sidestick up to 16°.

At 2040:32, the captain’s sidestick briefly changed from a right to left deflection before changing to the maximum right deflection as the nose landing gear weight-on-wheels parameter switched from ground to air. The rudder was deflected about 20° to the left. As the nose landing gear lifted off the ground, the airplane began to roll to the left. During a postaccident interview, the captain stated that he was “looking at the runway edge” and knew that he had to get the airplane into the air. The captain also stated that, as he rotated the airplane, it began to roll to the left, so he added right rudder and right aileron.

At 2040:33, both the captain’s and the first officer’s sidesticks moved to the maximum right deflection of 20° when the airplane was in a 3° left roll attitude and had an increasing left roll rate. The CVR recorded “dual input” (an automated alert) at 2040:34, indicating that both the captain and the first officer made sidestick inputs. At that time, the rudder moved through its neutral position as the commanded pitch returned to neutral and the pitch angle reached 10°. The airplane’s left roll was 26° with an increasing left roll rate as the right main landing gear weighton-wheels parameter changed from ground to air. The airplane’s heading was 290°, 25° to the left of the runway centerline.

At 2040:35, the left roll reached a maximum of 37°, both sidestick controllers remained at the full right roll command position, and both sidesticks were moved the maximum nose-up position. One second later, the CVR recorded a sound consistent with a wing strike. DFDR data showed that the left aileron moved toward neutral without a corresponding change in the right aileron or sidestick control, consistent with the left aileron moving due to contact with the ground. The rudder pedals reached their full right position, and the left main landing gear weight-on-wheels parameter transitioned from ground to air as the roll angle began to decrease.

As the roll angle decreased toward wings level, the captain made a rudder pedal input to the left and moved his sidestick to its maximum left deflection. At 2040:37, the airplane’s radio altitude was 27 ft, airspeed was 164 knots, and pitch was 20.4°. One second later, the rudder pedal began to move toward neutral, the captain’s sidestick moved to the full right position, and sidestick pitch control moved forward through neutral as the airplane rolled to the left. At 2040:39, the first officer stated, “I don’t know what’s goin’ on.” The airplane reached a 20° left roll and a maximum pitch angle of 24° at 2040:40. The airplane then rolled back toward wings level, and its pitch angle began decreasing toward 14° during the next 2 seconds as the rudder pedal returned to its neutral position and the sidestick was moved to the maximum left position and then back to the neutral position. As the airplane’s pitch angle decreased toward 14°, its vertical acceleration decreased to 0.58 G.

From 2040:41 to 2040:43, rudder pedal inputs ceased, and the rudder moved back to its neutral position. The captain’s lateral sidestick inputs continued, and the airplane recovered from its previous 20° right roll attitude and climbed normally. At 2040:45, the captain stated, “what the (expletive) happened?” The first officer responded, “I don’t know” and “the engines all…good.” At 2040:59, the captain stated, “it just (expletive) rolled on me.”

At 2047:37, the first officer stated, “it might not be a bad idea go back [to JFK].” About 1 minute 10 seconds later, the captain stated “you know, I think you’re right.” At 2049:20, the captain stated, “let’s coordinate a return to ah Kennedy. You think?” The first officer responded, “yeah,” “I don’t’ know…it’s a tough call,” and “I just wanted to put that out and let you think about that.” At 2049:40, the first officer stated, “you don’t wanna talk to maintenance…maybe kinda get the blessing from somebody else, maybe?” The captain responded by indicating that he wanted the airplane to return to the airport.

At 2049:57, the first officer contacted air traffic control; about 8 seconds later, he stated, “when we departed…as we rotated we had…a strong roll to the left and…as we climb[ed] out we decided we would like to return to Kennedy.” The controller asked if the situation was an emergency. The first officer then asked the captain if they should declare an emergency, and the captain stated, “let’s not declare an emergency, as long as the airplane is flying.” At 2050:25, the first officer told the controller, “naw the airplane’s flying great right now we’d just like to return to Kennedy have them check it out.” The airplane leveled off at 20,000 ft, and the controller provided vectors for the flight back to JFK.

At 2050:52, the captain told the first officer that he wanted to transfer control of the airplane, and the first officer stated “got the airplane” about 1 minute later. At 2051:56, the controller contacted the flight crew to better understand what happened after the airplane departed. The first officer responded that the airplane rolled uncontrolled 45° to the left as the airplane rotated and that, after recovery, the airplane climbed normally. The first officer also noted that a “good” crosswind was occurring at the time.

At 2054:09, a flight attendant contacted the flight crew and stated that a passenger seated near the left wing had reported that the wing “looks dented” and “doesn’t look normal.” The captain replied, “I don’t know what that means but it doesn’t matter [because] we’re going back.” At 2100:34, the flight attendant called back and stated that the left wing looked as if it had sustained “a little damage.” The remainder of the flight was uneventful, and the CVR recorded a sound consistent with landing at 21:08:36.

PERSONNEL INFORMATIONAccording to American Airlines, the flight crewmembers had flown together eight times previously. Their most recent pairing occurred on a 2-day trip that began on November 13, 2018 (about 5 months before the accident flight). The captain stated that the first officer would speak up regarding any concerns in the cockpit. The first officer stated that he enjoyed flying with the captain and described him as “easy to work with.” The first officer also stated that the captain would ask for, and was receptive to, the first officer’s input.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe accident airplane had been operated by ...