Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fresno Air Terminal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fresno, California 93706
Friday, February 27, 1987 20:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE FLIGHT WAS UNEVENTFUL DURING TAKEOFF AND CLIMB TO AN ASSIGNED CRUISE ALTITUDE OF FL260. APPROXIMATELY 40 MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF THE NUMBER 3 ENGINE EXPERIENCED AN UNCONTAINED FAILURE OF THE TURBINE BLADES ON THE NUMBER 4 POWER TURBINE WHEEL. ALTHOUGH DEBRIS FROM THE ENGINE PENETRATED THE PRESSURE VESSEL, THE PILOT MADE AN UNSCHEDULED LANDING AT AN AIRPORT WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED THAT FERROUS CHIPS WERE CONTAMINATING, AND OIL WAS BYPASSING THE ENGINE OIL FILTER FOR AT LEAST 40 DAYS. HOWEVER, NO CORRECTIVE ACTION WAS TAKEN BY COMPANY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL. THE OIL AND FILTER WERE CHANGED THREE TIMES IN THE THREE MONTHS PREVIOUS TO THE ACCIDENT. THE EXAM REVEALED THAT THE CONTAMINATED OIL CONTRIBUTED TO THE FAILURE OF THE NUMBER FOUR TURBINE BEARING SUBSEQUENTLY LEADING TO OVERHEATING AND DAMAGE TO THE OVERSPEED SENSORS. THE TURBINE OVERSPED AND THE TURBINE BLADES DEPARTED THE TURBINE DISC.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF COMPANY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL TO ADEQUATELY EXAMINE THE ENGINE LUBRICATION SYSTEM WHEN CONTAMINATION WAS DETECTED.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/27/1987 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2000 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | FRESNO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93706 |
| Event Date Year | 1987 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FRESNO AIR TERMINAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FAT |
| 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 | 332 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1950 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FAT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 333 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 50 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 26000 |
| 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 | 87 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2661 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 28 1987 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 426 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 40009 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 1:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N356PS |
| NTSB Number | LAX87FA128 |
| 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 | BRITISH AEROSPACE |
| Aircraft Model | BA146-200A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BA146-200A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E2039 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 95000 |
| 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 | 109 |
| Number of Engines | 4 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 21 1987 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4662 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CONNECTICUT NAT'L BANK |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 777 MAIN ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | HARTFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06115 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PACIFIC SOUTHWEST AIRLINES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3225 N. HARBOR DR. |
| Operator City | SAN DIEGO |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92101 |
| Operator Code | PSAA |
| 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 | LAX |
| Departure City | LOS ANGELES |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1902 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RNO |
| Destination City | RENO |
| Destination State | NV |
| 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 | 11L |
| Runway Length | 9218 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |