Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Covington, Kentucky 41011
Wednesday, January 3, 2001 8:32 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During climbout, an airframe vibration developed. All gauges, readouts, synoptic pages, and airplane controls were normal. The crew contacted their maintenance base and attempted to troubleshoot the problem, but could not determine its cause. The vibration remained unchanged until the airplane leveled off at 7,000 feet during an approach. At that time, the crew felt a bump, then the vibration completely ceased. The airplane landed, and taxied to the gate without further incident. Post-flight inspection revealed that the number 1 exhaust fairing was missing, and that the left, aft fuselage had a dent. The 30 bolts that would have normally attached the exhaust nozzle assembly to the exhaust frame were all missing, "without a trace." Seven months earlier, the tailpipe was found loose. Ten bolts were replaced, and the rest were re-torqued. The last inspection on the airplane had been completed about 2 weeks earlier, 105 hours prior to the incident. Company personnel had previously found cracked bolts on exhaust flanges from other engines. Laboratory examination of used bolts from another engine revealed no anomalies. Engine shop buildup and shop exit manuals were subsequently revised to make the installation and torquing of exhaust nozzle bolts a required inspection item.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Missing exhaust nozzle bolts for undetermined reasons. A factor was inadequate maintenance inspection of the affected area.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 1/3/2001
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 832
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Covington
Event State KENTUCKY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 41011
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 1
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 851 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID CVG
Elevation of weather observation facility 897
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 800
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.39
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 46
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11273
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jan 8 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1200
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2002 7:11AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Louisville

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N933CA
NTSB Number NYC01IA072
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 Bombardier
Aircraft Model CL-600-2B19
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 7040
Certified Max Gross Weight 51000
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 53
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Dec 15 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 105
Airframe Hours 16298
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name First Security Bank Utah
Aircraft Owner Street Address 79 South Maintenance Street
Aircraft Owner City Salt Lake City
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84101
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name COMAIR INC
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 77 Comair Blvd
Operator City Erlanger
Operator State KY
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 41018
Operator Code COMR
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 No
Departure Airport Code MSP
Departure City Minneapolis
Departure State MN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code CVG
Destination City Covington
Destination State KY
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 9 2002 10:00AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --