MD80 flight crew has failure of their primary flight display (pfd) and navigation display (nd), decl...

Attributes
ACN	585018
Time
Date	200306
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : bos.airport
State Reference	MA
Altitude	msl single value : 25000
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zbw.artcc tracon : a90.tracon
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	other
Flight Phase	cruise : level
Route In Use	enroute : direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
ASRS Report	585018
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
ASRS Report	583746
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical inflight encounter : birds inflight encounter : weather other spatial deviation
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment other aircraft equipment : pfd, nd, efis other flight crewa other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	controller : provided flight assist flight crew : exited adverse environment flight crew : diverted to another airport flight crew : declared emergency flight crew : landed in emergency condition other
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Aircraft Weather
Primary Problem	Aircraft

Narrative:

Departed boston for dfw. All indications were normal prior to takeoff. On departure in the turn to heading 140 degrees, the command bars went out of view. Continuing the departure to the west, the headings became misaligned. Continuing the climb with assistance from center, we realized that the problem was not correctable. This is when we declared an emergency and requested to return to boston. At this point, both EFIS attitude displays and compass displays disappeared with all of the associated fault signals. Now we were down to just the standby attitude indicator, airspeed and altimeter. We were given turns from center to return to boston and descended to below the cloud layer for a VFR approach and landing on runway 22L. This was an overweight landing at 135000 pounds also, on short final, the left wing was struck by a seagull. Maintenance met the aircraft and could not solve the problem from the cockpit. Once an inspection from the east&east compartment was made, the system returned to normal. The maintenance crew could find nothing noteworthy wrong with the aircraft. The system were brought back to normal. All inspections were completed and we then took the aircraft to dfw for an uneventful flight. Supplemental information from acn 583746: once we entered IMC and at about FL250 our navigation display and attitude display went blank. We received no gyroscope vectors back to bos and into VMC.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80 FLT CREW HAS FAILURE OF THEIR PRIMARY FLT DISPLAY (PFD) AND NAV DISPLAY (ND), DECLARES AN EMER AND RETURNS TO BOS WITH NO GYROSCOPE VECTORS.

Narrative: DEPARTED BOSTON FOR DFW. ALL INDICATIONS WERE NORMAL PRIOR TO TKOF. ON DEP IN THE TURN TO HEADING 140 DEGS, THE COMMAND BARS WENT OUT OF VIEW. CONTINUING THE DEP TO THE W, THE HEADINGS BECAME MISALIGNED. CONTINUING THE CLB WITH ASSISTANCE FROM CTR, WE REALIZED THAT THE PROB WAS NOT CORRECTABLE. THIS IS WHEN WE DECLARED AN EMER AND REQUESTED TO RETURN TO BOSTON. AT THIS POINT, BOTH EFIS ATTITUDE DISPLAYS AND COMPASS DISPLAYS DISAPPEARED WITH ALL OF THE ASSOCIATED FAULT SIGNALS. NOW WE WERE DOWN TO JUST THE STANDBY ATTITUDE INDICATOR, AIRSPD AND ALTIMETER. WE WERE GIVEN TURNS FROM CTR TO RETURN TO BOSTON AND DSNDED TO BELOW THE CLOUD LAYER FOR A VFR APCH AND LNDG ON RWY 22L. THIS WAS AN OVERWT LNDG AT 135000 LBS ALSO, ON SHORT FINAL, THE L WING WAS STRUCK BY A SEAGULL. MAINT MET THE ACFT AND COULD NOT SOLVE THE PROB FROM THE COCKPIT. ONCE AN INSPECTION FROM THE E&E COMPARTMENT WAS MADE, THE SYS RETURNED TO NORMAL. THE MAINT CREW COULD FIND NOTHING NOTEWORTHY WRONG WITH THE ACFT. THE SYS WERE BROUGHT BACK TO NORMAL. ALL INSPECTIONS WERE COMPLETED AND WE THEN TOOK THE ACFT TO DFW FOR AN UNEVENTFUL FLT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 583746: ONCE WE ENTERED IMC AND AT ABOUT FL250 OUR NAV DISPLAY AND ATTITUDE DISPLAY WENT BLANK. WE RECEIVED NO GYROSCOPE VECTORS BACK TO BOS AND INTO VMC.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

MD80 flight crew has failure of their primary flight display (pfd) and navigation display (nd), declares an emergency and returns to bos with no gyroscope vectors.