Portland Int'l Jetport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Portland, Maine 04102
Thursday, November 2, 1995 18:28 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During rotation, on the takeoff roll, the right engine of a Boeing 737-3B7, ingested a bird. Several fan blades broke; however, there was no uncontained failure of the blades. There was no fire and the engine continued to run until shut down by the flight crew, after which the pilot returned for a single-engine landing. Feathers recovered from the engine belonged to a bird with a weight between 2.7 to 6.4 pounds, and a average weight of 3.8 pounds. The engine performed within the limits of its certification criteria.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

a bird strike during takeoff, which resulted in failure of several fan blades in the right engine and a partial loss of engine power.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 11/2/1995
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1828
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City PORTLAND
Event State MAINE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 04102
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport PORTLAND INT'L JETPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PWM
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 74
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1856 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID PWM
Elevation of weather observation facility 74
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 300
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 1.75
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 350
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 62
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 5031
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 3 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 730
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:43PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N373US
NTSB Number NYC96IA022
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BOEING
Aircraft Model 737-3B7
Aircraft Series Identifier 737-3B7
Aircraft Serial Number 22952
Certified Max Gross Weight 135500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 128
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name USAIR
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2345 CRYSTAL DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City ARLINGTON
Aircraft Owner State VA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 22227
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code USAA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger/Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code PWM
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1828
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PHL
Destination City PHILADELPHIA
Destination State PA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 11
Runway Length 6800
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --