Phoenix - Tucson

On December 30, 1989 at 07:10 PM, Phoenix - Tucson experienced a crash involving Boeing 737-200, operated by America West Airlines, with the event recorded near Tucson Arizona.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

130 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 130 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 125, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. During approach, a fire erupted in the wheel well of the 22-year old airplane. The fire burned thru the hydraulic lines rendering the a, b, and standby hydraulic systems inoperative. The crew landed the airplane using the emergency manual reversion flight control system. However, the airplane was unable to stop on the runway because of the previous failures of the check valves in the backup hydraulic accumulator pressure systems for the #2 thrust reverser and the inboard pair of wheel brakes. During the 2 minutes rollout, the airplane traversed 14,000 feet, overran the runway end, and collided with a concrete structure which collapsed the nose gear. The airplane had recently undergone a 'C' check during which the operator's mechanics failed to observe and repair an electric wire which had been chafing against a hydraulic line. On the accident flight the energized wire arced, punctured the line, and ignited the escaping hydraulic fluid. The hydraulic check valves had failed earlier due to mechanical wear.

Aircraft reference details include registration N198AW, MSN 19710, year of manufacture 1968.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 32.2229°, -110.9748°.