Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kansas City, Missouri 64153
Thursday, May 19, 2005 9:25 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained minor damage as a result of an uncontained failure of the left engine. Examination of the airplane revealed that the left engine's fan spinner was completely missing, and the forward fan blade retainer was missing a 90-degree section of the bolt flange. Several pieces of the fan spinner were recovered within the cowl. The NTSB's examination of the fan blade forward retaining ring revealed features indicative of overstress failure which originated on the forward face adjacent to a linear impression. The length and location of the linear impression corresponded to the corner on one of the bolt lugs on the aft side of the spinner. The linear impression contained evidence of fretting damage. The inside radius between the retaining ring's raised lip, and the flange was within the range specified by the manufacturer. The spinner's bolt lugs had a sharp outside corner where the spinner would interface with the radius on the retaining ring. The forging drawing for this part did not specify a radius; however, a manufacturer's representative indicated that an engineering drawing for the spinner specified that exterior corners have an edge break with a radius between 0.005 and 0.020 inches. The combination of the radius on the retaining ring, and the sharp edge on the aft side of the spinner, resulted in an interference when the parts were assembled. The manufacturer's examination of the retained parts indicated the presence of high cycle fatigue on both the spinner and the fan blade retaining ring. Three dimensional finite element analysis of the fan spinner, and forward fan blade retaining ring predicted a reduced low cycle fatigue life. As a result of this investigation, the manufacturer initiated a one-time, on-wing eddy current inspection of all the one-piece fan spinners to be accomplished within 18 months or 2,000 hours. The manufacturer also initiated a re-design of the fan spinner, and indicated that the one-piece fan spinners will be removed from service by the end of 2010.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fatigue failure during cruise flight of the fan spinner and forward fan retaining ring due to an interference between the mating parts resulting from the inadequate design by the manufacturer.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 5/19/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 925 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Kansas City |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 64153 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.84 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KMCI 191253Z 22004KT 6SM BR CLR 19/18 A2983 |
| 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 | 54 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21770 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 19 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2007 12:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | St. Louis, Missouri |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N814HK |
| NTSB Number | CHI05IA116 |
| 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 | Embraer |
| Aircraft Model | EMB-145LR |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 145046 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 48721 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 18852 |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | American Eagle Airlines Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4333 Amon Carter Blvd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Worth |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76155 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | TRANS STATES AIRLINES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 11495 Natural Bridge Road, Suite 340 |
| Operator City | Bridgeton |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 63044 |
| Operator Code | RAIA |
| 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 | STL |
| Departure City | ST LOUIS |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DEN |
| Destination City | DENVER |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2007 5:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |