Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Colorado Sprngs, Colorado 80831
Thursday, May 7, 1998 21:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Federal Express flight 1287 departed Colorado Springs, en route to Memphis, Tennessee. When the airplane was north of the airport and passing 8,500 feet msl, it struck a flock of large white birds, causing an uncontained no. 3 engine failure. There was also a loss of essential electrical power. The captain declared an emergency, returned to the Colorado Springs Airport, and made an uneventful landing. In addition to minor damage to the right side of the fuselage, visual inspection of the engine disclosed bird remains in and around the no. 3 engine. The outboard 4 inches of the first stage compressor blade separated, damaging the first and second stage compressor blades, stator blades, and inlet guide vanes. Shrapnel was ejected through the engine case at the 12 o'clock position, severing the no. 3 electrical bus wire bundle and puncturing the engine inlet anti-ice bleed air duct. The nose and upper engine cowling and thrust reverser were also damaged. The constant speed drive oil cooler was partially separated due to engine vibrations.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An inadvertent inflight collision with a flock of large birds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 5/7/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2130 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | COLORADO SPRNGS |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80831 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2158 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | COS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6184 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6560 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5009 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 7 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:19AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N116FE |
| NTSB Number | FTW98IA208 |
| 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 | 727-25C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 727-25C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 19298 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 169500 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 5 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 63119 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2005 CORPORATE AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | MEMPHIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38132 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 727 |
| Operator City | MEMPHIS |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 38194 |
| Operator Code | FDEA |
| 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 | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | COS |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2120 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MEM |
| Destination City | MEMPHIS |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2002 12:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |