The pilots of the Delta Air Lines MD-88 that skidded off the runway at New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) on March 5 “did not sense any wheel brake deceleration” upon landing and were “unable to prevent the airplane from drifting left,” according to a report by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
NTSB said the pilots had decided to land during snowy conditions after being informed by air traffic controllers that other aircraft had reported “good” breaking action on LGA’s runway 13. The pilots have told NTSB “the runway appeared all white when they broke out of the overcast, moments before landing.” The pilots have reported “the auto brakes were set to max” but didn’t decelerate the aircraft, according to NTSB, which said one of its meteorologists “is examining the weather conditions at the time of the accident.”
The board said the MD-88’s left wing “destroyed about 940 feet of the [LGA] perimeter fence” before the aircraft came to a stop on top of a berm. NTSB reported there is “significant damage to the airplane,” including “damage on the left wing’s leading edge slats, trailing edge flaps and flight spoilers.” The left wing’s fuel tank was breached, which led to a fuel leak during the incident that was quickly contained. There was also damage “to the underside of the fuselage from the front of the airplane all the way back to the area of the left front passenger door,” NTSB said. “Damage was also noted in the nose landing gear well and main electronics bay.”
The MD-88’s cockpit voice recorder (CVR) has been brought to NTSB headquarters in Washington DC, where investigators are “developing the CVR transcript,” NTSB said. There were 23 minor injuries among the 127 passengers, according to NTSB.