Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Portland Intl Jetport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Portland, Oregon 97218
Monday, February 13, 2012 12:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On February 13, 2012, a FedEx McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) MD10-30, registration number N304FE, equipped with three General Electric (GE) CF6-50 turbofans engines, performed a rejected take-off due to a failure of the No. 1 (left) engine. No injuries were reported. The incident flight was a regularly scheduled domestic cargo flight, operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 121, from Portland to Oakland, California. Examination of the airplane revealed no damage or penetration of the cowlings and no damage to the airplane; however, examination of the engine revealed three penetration holes and tears in low pressure turbine case and a single hole located in the turbine rear frame. Disassembly of the incident engine found that the fan mid shaft had fractured and the aft section of the fan mid shaft exhibited a spiral crack angled 45° to the longitudinal axis that measured about 69.5-inches in total length (about 3½ revolutions around the shaft) and extended about 20.5-inches axially in length. Metallurgical examination of the fan mid shaft found that it had fractured entirely in an intergranular mode. The initiation of the spiral fracture was comprised of numerous discolored, thumbnail shaped cracks initiating from the inner diameter surface of the fan mid shaft, some of which had progressed through the fan mid shaft thickness. The morphology of the cracks was consistent with a stress corrosion cracking mechanisms typical of high strength steel such as the fan mid shaft parent material. Localized areas of corrosion pitting, scaling, and loss of the anti-corrosion coating were observed throughout the inner diameter of the fan mid shaft. Examination of the debris within the shaft identified it as an ester based engine oil residue, typical of the kind of oil used in turbine engines. The stress corrosion cracking observed on the fan mid shaft was caused primarily due to the breakdown of a synthetic oil product inside the FMS during both storage and engine operation. The exact source or mechanism by which the oil entered the dry cavity between the fan mid shaft and the center vent tube is unknown.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fracture of the fan mid shaft due to a stress corrosion cracking initiated by local regions of corrosion pitting, which resulted from oil migration within the shaft and its subsequent degradation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 2/13/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Portland |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97218 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 453521N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1223620W |
| Event Location Airport | PORTLAND INTL JETPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PWM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 104 |
| Airport Elevation | 76 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | -- |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31838 |
| NTSB Notification Source | General Electric |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 16 2013 12:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Basic weather conditions | Unknown |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N304FE |
| NTSB Number | ENG12IA012 |
| 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-10-30F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 46992 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 385 |
| Number of Engines | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MEMPHIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38118-1516 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | MEMPHIS |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 38118-1516 |
| Operator Code | FDEA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | FDEA140A |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PDX |
| Departure City | Portland |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OAK |
| Destination City | Oakland |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 16 2013 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |