Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Denver, Colorado
Wednesday, August 9, 1989 18:18 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
WHILE CLIMBING THROUGH 38,000 FEET, THE AIRCRAFT EXPERIENCED AN UNCONTAINED FAN BLADE SEPARATION IN THE NO. 2 ENGINE. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT ONE OF THE FIRST-STAGE COMPRESSOR FAN BLADES (S/N EB2506) HAD SEPARATED ABOUT 8 INCHES ABOVE THE BLADE PLATFORM. FRAGMENTS FROM THE BLADE (#8) HAD EXITED THROUGH THE LEFT FAN COWL IN THREE PLACES AND HAD PENETRATED THE VERTICAL STABILIZER. THE BLADE SEPARATION STEMMED FROM A 0.34-INCH LONG FATIGUE CRACK THAT BEGAN IN A WELD ADJACENT TO A PATCH. THE FAN BLADE HAD BEEN PATCH-REPAIRED EARLIER, AND SUBJECTED TO FOUR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTS: X-RAY, FLUORESCENT PENETRANT, ULTRASONIC, AND EDDY CURRENT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FATIGUE FAILURE AND SEPARATION OF A FIRST-STAGE COMPRESSOR FAN BLADE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 8/9/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1818 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | DENVER |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 254 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5033 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 9 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 39111 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N133JC |
| NTSB Number | DCA89IA066 |
| 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 | MCDONNELL DOUGLAS |
| Aircraft Model | DC-10-40 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DC-10-40 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 455000 |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 28 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 32 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL INT'L ARPT |
| Aircraft Owner City | MINNEAPOLIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55111 |
| 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 | NWAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | Yes |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | LOS ANGELES |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | MINNEAPOLIS |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| 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 | -- |