Albany County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Albany, New York
Wednesday, September 21, 1988 23:55 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE ACFT EXPERIENCED AN UNCONTAINED DISINTEGRATION OF THE NO.2 ENGINE. SCORCHED ENGINE FRAGMENTS RIPPED THROUGH THE FUSELAGE INJURING TWO PASSENGERS, ONE SERIOUSLY. THE UNCONTAINED FAILURE WAS THE RESULT OF WEAR OR SPALLING OF THE 1ST STAGE REDUCTION GEAR AND THE SUN GEARS. PROGRESSIVE CONTAMINATION ALLOWED THE FAILURE TO PROGRESS TO THE ULTIMATE UNCONTAINED FAILURE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ULTIMATE FAILURE WAS AN INOPERATIVE MAGNETIC CHIP DETECTOR PLUG, WHICH ALLOWED THE WEAR TO PROGRESS UNDETECTED.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/21/1988
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 2355
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City ALBANY
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site
Event Date Year 1988
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ALBANY COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ALB
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 385
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2330 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 170
Weather Observation Facility ID ALB
Elevation of weather observation facility 285
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 1700
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None 12
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2138
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 22 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 30
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 38642
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:09PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N170RA
NTSB Number NYC88FA238
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name de Havilland
Aircraft Model DH-7-58C
Aircraft Series Identifier DH-7-58C
Aircraft Serial Number 14
Certified Max Gross Weight 44000
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 55
Number of Engines 4
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Sep 21 1988 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 21061
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PAN AM EXPRESS
Aircraft Owner Street Address NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA ARPT
Aircraft Owner City PHILADELPHIA
Aircraft Owner State PA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19114
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name PAN AM EXPRESS
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA ARPT
Operator City PHILADELPHIA
Operator State PA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 19114
Operator Code PXX
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 Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code JFK
Departure City JAMAICA
Departure State NY
Departure Country
Departure Time 2233
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code ALB
Destination City ALBANY
Destination State NY
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
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 28
Runway Length 6000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --