On December 29, 2010, American Airlines flight 2253, ran off the departure end of runway 19 after landing at Jackson Hole Airport (JAC), Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The airplane came to rest about 730 feet past the departure end of the runway in deep snow. The 179 passengers, 2 pilots, and 4 flight attendants on board were not injured, and the airplane sustained minor damage. The flight originated from Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois.
The probable cause of this incident was a manufacturing defect in a clutch mechanism that prevented the speedbrakes from automatically deploying after touchdown and the captain‘s failure to monitor and extend the speedbrakes manually. Also causal was the failure of the thrust reversers to deploy when initially commanded. Contributing to the incident was the captain‘s failure to confirm speedbrake extension before announcing their deployment and his distraction caused by the thrust reversers‘ failure to initially deploy after landing.
Safety issues identified in this incident include the following: inadequate pilot training for recognition of a situation in which the speedbrakes do not automatically deploy as expected after landing, lack of an alert to warn pilots when speedbrakes have not automatically deployed during the landing roll, lack of guidance for pilots of certain Boeing airplanes to follow when an unintended thrust reverser lockout occurs, lack of pilot training for multiple emergency and abnormal situations, and lack of pilot training emphasizing monitoring skills and workload management.
As a result of this investigation, three new safety recommendations were issued and three existing safety recommendations were reiterated to the Federal Aviation Administration.
