Aviation News

NTSB Investigating Airliner Uncontained Engine Failure

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an uncontained engine failure on an American Airlines B-767 that was undergoing testing, June 2, at Los Angeles International Airport.

At 12:27 PST, during a ground maintenance test run, the high-pressure turbine stage one disk on the number one engine (GE CF6-80A2) broke into several pieces that were found embedded in the fuselage, the number two engine, and scattered as far 3,000 feet from the airplane.

Numerous holes punched in the wings by pieces of the engine caused fuel leaks that led to a ground fire that was extinguished by airport fire department personnel.

There were no reported injuries to the three maintenance technicians aboard the airplane at the time of the accident.

NTSB investigators were at the accident scene from June 3 to 7. Pieces of the high-pressure turbine disk were recovered and brought to the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington DC, for analysis. Initial examination of the disk pieces found indications of fatigue cracking.

The failed engine has been brought to the American Airlines facility in Tulsa OK, for teardown this week under NTSB supervision.

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	Did You Know?
	Private pilots must be at least 17 years old and have a minimum of 40 hours of flight time The actual average is about 65 hours), including 20 hours of instruction and 10 hours solo. Pilots trained according to accelerated curricula defined in Part 141 of the Federal Aviation Regulations may be certified with a minimum of 35 hours. Private pilots may not fly for hire but may share equally with their passengers the direct expenses of a flight – specifically, fuel, oil, airport transient parking/landing fees, and aircraft rental charges.