Posted on 11/12/2001 12:01:32 PM PST by Lessismore
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Background
On September 22, 2000, a US Airways Boeing 767-2B7(ER) airplane, N654US, equipped with GE CF6-80C2B2 engines, experienced an uncontained failure of the HPT stage 1 disk in the No. 1 engine during a high-power ground run for maintenance at Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Because of a report of an in-flight loss of oil, US Airways mechanics had replaced a seal on the No. 1 engine’s integral drive generator and were performing the high-power engine run to check for any oil leakage. For the maintenance check, the mechanics had taxied the airplane to a remote taxiway on the airport and had performed three runups for which no anomalies were noted. During the fourth excursion to high power, at around 93 percent N1 rpm, there was a loud explosion followed by a fire under the left wing of the airplane. The mechanics shut down the engines, discharged both fire bottles into the No. 1 engine nacelle, and evacuated the airplane. Although both fire bottles were discharged, the fire continued until it was extinguished by airport fire department personnel. The No. 1 engine and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The three mechanics were not injured.
This incident raises serious safety concerns because, if it had occurred during flight rather than on the ground during maintenance, the airplane might not have been able to maintain safe flight. Examination of the airplane revealed that a portion of the HPT stage 1 disk penetrated the left wing just inboard of the No. 1 engine pylon. Investigators determined that this portion of the disk, which is approximately 140 square inches and 45 pounds, penetrated a dry bay, made a 1-inch-wide vertical cut through the lower half of the forward wing spar, and penetrated a fuel tank before exiting through the top of the wing and passing over the fuselage. Examination of the engine revealed that the disk rupture split the engine in half, leaving the rear of the engine joined to the front only by the fan midshaft. The disk had separated from the shaft and was completely missing from the engine. [Emphasis added] Two pieces of the disk, which amounted to about two-thirds of it, and three blade slot posts were recovered. Although an extensive search was conducted, the remaining one-third of the ruptured disk (the piece that passed through the wing) was not recovered. Trajectory analysis performed by the Safety Board indicates that it may have landed in the Delaware River, which is adjacent to the airport.
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A CF-6 exploding in 1989 causing the famous Sioux City "Cart Wheeling" DC-10 incident.
In March, 1979 an Air France CF-6 powered A300 Airbus was destroyed by fire after an engine broke up and the crew aborted a takeoff from Sanaa Airport in North Yemen. This was before the major re-design that followed.
The two comparable incidents involved a Philippines Airlines DC-10 that lost a high-pressure turbine disk while in flight near Bahrein, in the Persian Gulf, in 1979, and a Thai International A-300 that aborted a takeoff in Hong Kong in 1981 when a disk flew off.
Add that to the another two incidents (A DC-10 taking off from Newark that had an engine disintegrate and the 767 ground incident described above). (Search on my name for other incidents involving AA A300's and engine problems/fires/failures.)
"The second accident involved a Canadien Airlines Boeing 767 in Beijing that suffered an uncontained failure of one of its General Electric CF6-80C2 engine high pressure compressor hubs. While the details of this failure are not immediately known, the Safety Board is very interested and is participating in this investigation to see if it is related to other apparently similar failures leading to corrective actions that the Board attempted to initiate in August of 1995."
This appears to be similar to the Philadelphia incident, and is another uncontained failure of the same CF6 engine.
Scanning through the referenced posts, I did not see where it said anyplace that the engine itself failed. Relatively minor point, I guess.
Regards,
Bugs me that I can't refer you to something definitive.
Gotta run, 0500 comes early.
Regards,
One DC-10 accident caused by an exploding engine (uncontained failure took out all hydraulics).
Another DC-10 accident caused by an improper mounting of an engine. I can't remember if you were supposed to put the mount on the wing, then put the engine on the mount, OR if you were supposed to put the mount on the engine then put the assembly on the wing.
The problem came when the maintenance guys couldn't get it right either...
In takeoff, this resulted in separation of the engine and pylon from the wing. Leading edge slat controls were damaged during the separation, causing the port side slats to retract and the port wing to stall. The aircraft became unflyable and crashed with a loss of 271 on the airplane and 2 on the ground.
In takeoff, this resulted in separation of the engine and pylon from the wing. Leading edge slat controls were damaged during the separation, causing the port side slats to retract and the port wing to stall. The aircraft became unflyable and crashed with a loss of 271 on the airplane and 2 on the ground.
Sorry about the delayed response.
That is the one to which I referred in my earlier posts. Perhaps there were two similar DC-10 crashes in Chicago, but I was not aware of any but the one that crashed in the manner in which you describe. Thanks for the clarification.
Regards,
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