Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dallas/Ft Worth Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dallas, Texas 75235
Wednesday, March 6, 2002 7:15 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The F-100 commercial passenger airplane experienced an uncontained rupture of the auxiliary power unit's (APU) turbine wheel while standing during de-icing procedures. Approximately ten minutes after de-icing began, the Captain reported that he heard and felt a "thud-like" noise from outside the aircraft. At the same time, the APU shutdown. One of the de-icing crewmembers on the ground stated he saw a flame come from the APU exhaust and had activated the ground APU fire bottle discharge switch. Examination of the APU revealed two large holes in the APU's compressor case in line with the turbine wheel's plane of rotation. The turbine wheel was broken into several pieces. A fragment of the turbine wheel was found embedded into a first aid kit that was mounted inside the cabin on the aft wall directly in front of the aft pressure bulkhead. Metallurgical examination of the fractured pieces of the turbine wheel were confirmed that the APU had experienced an overspeed. Further examination did not reveal evidence of fatigue on any of the fracture surfaces. The APU's electronic control unit (ECU) was removed from the engine to interrogate the ECU's non-volatile memory (NVM) and perform a diagnostic test. The NVM indicated that the APU had experienced an overspeed, which is a rotor speed of 107 percent or greater, and had commanded a shutdown. The diagnostic test showed that there were no discrepancies with the ECU. The Automated Surface Observing Station for DFW at 0700 reported winds from 320 degrees at 20 knots gusting to 27 knots. The members of the de-icing crew stated that at the time they were de-icing the airplane, the wind was blowing at 20 knots and gusting. Due to the windy conditions, the drivers of the de-icing trucks had coordinated prior to de-icing the airplane to start at opposite ends of the airplane so the bucket operators would not be spraying each other as they de-iced the airplane. According to company records, all 5 members of the de-icing crew were trained and experienced, and were aware not to spray de-ice fluid in the area of the F-100's APU inlet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The ground crew inadvertent application of deicing fluid in the auxiliary power unit resulting in an overspeed and turbine wheel burst. A contributing factor was the gusty wind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/6/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 715 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Dallas |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75235 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325307N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0970225W |
| Event Location Airport | Dallas/Ft Worth Intl |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DFW |
| 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 | 607 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 700 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DFW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 607 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 27 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -1586 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 34 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15672 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 2 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Dallas, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1425A |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA088 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Fokker |
| Aircraft Model | F-28 MK-100 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11408 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 100971 |
| 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 | 111 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 22 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 33 |
| Airframe Hours | 22818 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMR Corporation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 619616 Maildrop 5661 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Dallas |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75262 |
| 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 | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | AALA |
| 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 | DFW |
| Departure City | Dallas |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 633 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BNA |
| Destination City | Nashville |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2004 6:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |