Investigation brief · generated 2026-10-09 · source: NTSB public docket and accident database
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT CO MD 88 — New York, NY, USA, 2015-03-05
NTSB number
DCA15FA085
Operator
Delta Air Lines
Registration
N909DL
Highest injury
No injury
Regulation
Part 121
Damage
Substantial
Cohort
Part 121 airline
Recorder data
Tier 1 — decoded recorder tables
Every sentence below is taken directly from NTSB records — the accident database, the docket's recorder reports and the Board's findings — with its source noted. Nothing is paraphrased or inferred.
NTSB summary
NTSB investigators traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-16/02.
On March 5, 2015, at 1102 eastern standard time, Delta Air Lines flight 1086, a Boeing MD-88, N909DL, was landing on runway 13 at LaGuardia Airport, New York, New York, when it departed the left side of the runway, contacted the airport perimeter fence, and came to rest with the airplane's nose on an embankment next to Flushing Bay. The 2 pilots, 3 flight attendants, and 98 of the 127 passengers were not injured; the other 29 passengers received minor injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged. Flight 1086 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121. An instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
the captain's inability to maintain directional control of the airplane due to his application of excessive reverse thrust, which degraded the effectiveness of the rudder in controlling the airplane's heading. Contributing to the accident were the captain's (1) situational stress resulting from his concerns about stopping performance and (2) attentional limitations due to the high workload during the landing, which prevented him from immediately recognizing the use of excessive reverse thrust.
Verbatim, NTSB determination.
Flight data recorder
· N979DL — 5,654 samples, 28 parameters, 23:39:35.0 to 23:41:45.0.
Parameter
Max
at
Min
at
Final
at
Pressure altitude ft
934.0
23:39:36.1
-4,096.0
23:40:44.1
-166.0
23:41:44.1
Airspeed kts
136.2
23:39:36.3
0.0
23:41:33.3
0.0
23:41:44.3
Vertical acceleration g
1.4
23:40:59.0
0.7
23:40:59.8
1.0
23:41:44.9
Computed from the docket's tabular attachment; times as recorded (local or SRN as published).
Sequence of events (FDR factual report)
Time
Event
Page
85,175 SRN
Start of plotted final approach data at radio altitude of 1,025 ft
3
85,240 SRN to 85,295 SRN
Expanded scale plot of deceleration aids and forces around time of landing (55 seconds of data)
5
85,305 SRN
End of plotted approach/landing data for basic parameters and flight controls
4
Extracted by claude-sonnet-5; 2 of 3 stated events verified against the raw recorder data.
Cockpit voice recorder
648 transcribed utterances from 09:00:47.4 to 11:02:53.5, 22 sources. Final entries:
11:02:48.0
CAM-?
#.
11:02:49.4
CAM-?
#.
11:02:51.6
CAM
[sound of scraping noise ends]
11:02:51.8
LGA
Delta ten eighty six?
11:02:53.5
CAM-?
#.
The NTSB cautions that a CVR transcript is not a precise science and should not be used as the sole source of information.