Event Details


Title:Uncontained Engine Failure, Delta Air Lines Flight 1288, McDonnell Douglas MD-88, N927DA, Pensacola, Florida, July 6, 1996
Micro summary:This McDonnell Douglas MD-88 experienced an uncontained engine failure on takeoff.
Event Time:1996-07-06 at 1424 CDT
File Name:1996-07-06-2-US.pdf
Publishing Agency:National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Publishing Country:USA
Report number:NTSB/AAR-98/01
Pages:137
Diversion Airport:Pensacola Regional Airport, Pensacola, Florida, USA
Site of event:PNS RWY 17
Departure:Pensacola Regional Airport, Pensacola, Florida, USA
Destination:William B. Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Airplane Type(s):McDonnell Douglas DC-9-88 (MD-88)
Flight Phase:Takeoff
Registration(s):N927DA
Operator(s):Delta Air Lines
Type of flight:Revenue
Occupants:142
Fatalities:2
Serious Injuries:5
Minor/Non-Injured:135
Other Injuries:0
Diverted to:Pensacola Regional Airport, Pensacola, Florida, USA
Executive Summary:Abstract: This report explains the accident involving Delta Air Lines flight 1288, an MD-88, which experienced an uncontained engine failure during the initial part of its takeoff roll at Pensacola Regional Airport in Pensacola, Florida, on July 6, 1996. Safety issues in the report include the limitations of the blue etch anodize process, manufacturing defects, standards for the fluorescent penetrant inspection process, the performance of nondestructive testing, the use of alarm systems for emergency situations, and instructions regarding emergency exits. Safety recommendations concerning these issues were made to the Federal Aviation Administration.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On July 6, 1996, at 1424 central daylight time, a McDonnell Douglas MD-88, N927DA, operated by Delta Air Lines Inc., as flight 1288, experienced an engine failure during the initial part of its takeoff roll on runway 17 at Pensacola Regional Airport in Pensacola, Florida. Uncontained engine debris from the front compressor front hub (fan hub) of the No. 1 (left) engine penetrated the left aft fuselage. Two passengers were killed and two others were seriously injured. The takeoff was rejected, and the airplane was stopped on the runway. The airplane, which was being operated by Delta as a scheduled domestic passenger flight under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121, with 137 passengers and 5 crew on board, was destined for Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the fracture of the left engine’s front compressor fan hub, which resulted from the failure of Delta Air Lines’ fluorescent penetrant inspection process to detect a detectable fatigue crack initiating from an area of altered microstructure that was created during the drilling process by Volvo for Pratt & Whitney and that went undetected at the time of manufacture. Contributing to the accident was the lack of sufficient redundancy in the in-service inspection program.

Safety issues discussed in this report include the limitations of the blue etch anodize process, manufacturing defects, standards for the fluorescent penetrant inspection process, the performance of nondestructive testing, the use of alarm systems for emergency situations, and instructions regarding emergency exits. Recommendations concerning these issues were made to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Learning Keywords:Operations - Maintenance
Operations - Rejected Takeoff before V1
Systems - Engine - Contained Engine Failure
Other - Manufacturing Issues
Other - Post-Crash Survivability

 




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