Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tucson Intl. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tucson, Arizona 85706
Thursday, March 15, 2001 12:39 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The air carrier airplane experienced severe vibrations and a loss of right engine power following a partial loss of 4th stage turbine blades during the takeoff sequence. According to the flight crew's statements, they noticed the vibration and loss of hydraulic fluid quantity and pressure shortly after VR. They then observed a loss of right engine pressure ratio (EPR) and the right engine thrust reverser indication lights. The flight crew reduced right engine power and landed uneventfully at the departure airport. The post-incident examination of the right engine revealed the engine event was caused by the imbalance of the low pressure turbine (LPT) rotor due to a significant loss of the 4th stage blade airfoil and shroud material. This imbalance resulted in rub between the LPT shaft and the high pressure turbine (HPT) shaft. A hole was eventually rubbed through the LPT shaft. Oil in the vicinity of this shaft rub was ignited, giving the LPT shaft the appearance of burn through. The extent of the damage to other systems (hydraulic lines, EPR reference lines, fire warning systems, etc.) was attributed to the duration of excessive vibration experienced until the engine was safely shutdown. Prior to the incident, the right engine was placed on a 50-cycle continue-in-service limitation in accordance with a P&W internal engineering notice for missing 4th stage turbine blade shroud/shrouds. At the time of the event, the right engine had accumulated 13 cycles of the 50-cycle limit. The post-incident blade material loss observed was well above that allowed under the continue-in-service limits, and the imbalance was most likely the result of another event that occurred after the continue-in-service shroud inspection. The cause of the 4th stage material loss could not be conclusively determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of 4th stage turbine blades during takeoff roll, which resulted in a dynamic imbalance in the engine.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 3/15/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1239 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Tucson |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85706 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 320659N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1105627W |
| Event Location Airport | Tucson Intl. |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TUS |
| 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 | 2643 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1155 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2643 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 101 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14451 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 15 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1614 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-SDL |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N996DL |
| NTSB Number | LAX01IA118 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | MD-88 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 53363 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 149500 |
| 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 | 149 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 13 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21 |
| Airframe Hours | 25852 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Delta Air Lines Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | Hartsfield Atlanta Intl. Airport |
| Aircraft Owner City | Atlanta |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30320 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. Box 20706 |
| Operator City | Atlanta |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 30320 |
| Operator Code | DALA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TUS |
| Departure City | Tucson |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1239 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CVG |
| Destination City | Cincinnati |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 23 2003 3:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 11L |
| Runway Length | 10996 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |