Delta Air Lines Flight 1080

Uncommon card · No. 136837

Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 was a scheduled flight from San Diego, California, to Atlanta, Georgia, notable for the incident that occurred on April 12, 1977, during the San Diego to Los Angeles leg of the flight. Unbeknownst to the crew, the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar's left elevator had become stuck in a fully upwards position. This led to the aircraft pitching up aggressively and causing the aircraft to lose speed and nearly stall. The pitching force was difficult to overcome by fully pushing the control column, but was counteracted by reducing the thrust on the L-1011's wing engines but not the tail engine. The differential thrust, along with moving all the passengers as far forward as possible in the cabin, pitched the nose down, and subsequently allowed the pilots to land the aircraft. The entire incident lasted 55 minutes.

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