Investigation Summary
During the takeoff roll on Runway 13R, the aircraft reached rotation speed (VR) and began to lift off. At an altitude of approximately 14 feet, the stick shaker activated, erroneously indicating an impending stall. The First Officer, who was the pilot flying, immediately transferred control to the Captain, stating 'Gettin' a stall. You got it.' The Captain, perceiving a loss of performance and a 'sinking' sensation—partially due to the First Officer relaxing the controls for stall recovery—believed he had sufficient runway remaining and retarded the thrust levers to abort the takeoff. The aircraft slammed back onto the runway at a vertical descent rate of 14 feet per second, more than double its structural design limit of 6 feet per second. The impact caused a fuel leak and a massive fire. The Captain steered the aircraft off the runway into a grassy area to avoid a blast fence. Although only three of the eight exit doors were usable due to the fire, the crew evacuated all passengers in approximately 90 seconds.
Final Conclusions
The NTSB determined the probable cause was a combination of design deficiencies in the stall warning system, TWA's maintenance failures, and inadequate crew coordination. The AOA sensor had a history of nine previous malfunctions that went undetected by maintenance quality assurance. The investigation also highlighted that TWA's lack of a required pre-departure briefing contributed to the crew's inappropriate response to the false warning. The NTSB praised the crew's evacuation performance but criticized the decision to abort after VR, noting the aircraft was fully capable of continued flight.
Photographic Evidence (1)
Video Analysis
A False Alarm That Crashed A Jet | TWA Flight 843 — A detailed look at how a faulty sensor triggered a false stall warning, leading the pilots of a TWA L-1011 to abort a takeoff after they were already in the air.
If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
William Shelby Kinkead
First Officer
Dennis William Hergert
Flight Engineer
Charles Edward Long; Head L-1011 Flight Engineer instructor (NY domicile)
Systems & Failure Modes
Angle of Attack (AOA) Sensor
A sensor that measures the angle between the wing and the oncoming airflow. A defect in this sensor provided false data to the stall warning system.
Stick Shaker
A mechanical device that rapidly and noisily vibrates the control yoke to warn the crew of an imminent aerodynamic stall.
Stall Warning System
An instrument system designed to alert pilots when the aircraft is approaching a stall; design deficiencies allowed a sensor defect to go undetected during pre-flight tests.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was 20 years old and had previously been involved in a near mid-air collision in 1975 with American Airlines Flight 182, a DC-10.
- 02The evacuation was completed in less than two minutes despite only three exit doors being available.
- 03The 292 occupants consisted of 280 passengers (including off-duty crew) and 12 working crew members.
- 04The right Angle of Attack (AOA) sensor had failed nine times prior to the accident flight.
- 05The aircraft reached a maximum speed of 181 knots during the attempted takeoff.
- 06Five off-duty flight attendants and two off-duty pilots assisted the working crew during the evacuation.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Crew Briefing Procedures
The NTSB recommended that TWA and other airlines mandate pre-departure briefings to clearly define crew responsibilities and coordination during abnormal takeoff events.