Date: October 28th, 1996<br>
Type: MD82<br>
Registration: -<br>
Operator: American Airlines<br>
Where: JFT International Airport, New York<br>
Report No.: Not Available<br>
Report Date: -<br>
Pages: -<br><br>

This is not an accident investigation report.<br><br>

At about 22:31 EST, American Airlines flight 346, a McDonnell Douglas
MD-82 aircraft, N244AA, landed nose gear up at JFK International
Airport, New York.<br>

  Visual meteorological conditions existed. There were 93 occupants;
1 passenger received serious injuries, and 2 passengers received
minor injuries. The aircraft received minor damage. The departure
point was Chicago, Illinois. The original destination was LaGuardia
Airport, New York. The flight was operated under 14 CFR Part 121.<br>

  The flight was inbound to land at LGA on runway 31 when the flight
crew received an unsafe nose gear indication. A low approach was
made at LGA for ground personnel to visually determine the nose
gear position, which they were unable to confirm as being down.   
  The flight crew decided to divert to JFK where a landing was 
made on runway 31R and subsequently an emergency evacuation was 
performed.  The injuries were incurred during the evacuation.  The 
serious injury consisted of fractured bones of the ankle and foot. <br>

  Preliminary examination of the aircraft revealed the nose landing
gear upper lock link, P/N 3914464-503, was fractured in two pieces. 
The linkage jammed against the shock strut structure, preventing
extension of the strut. Metallurgical examination of the link to
determine the failure mode is scheduled. NTSB Identification
NYC97LA009<br>

Aircraft is s/n 49256, l/n 1158, delivered to AA Sept 1984 with 
JT8D-217 engines, MTOW of 67,812 kgs / 149,000 lbs., configured in
F14/Y125, and with a TTSN / TCSN as of Dec 1995 of 34,206 hrs /
19,743 ldg<br><br>