- Date
- January 20, 1989, 07:45 local (13:45 UTC)
- Place
- Chicago, IL
- Injuries
- 33 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N242USBoeing 737-201
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19890120001289A
- Case key
- 14427
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Previous damage to the aft cone (engine mounting) bolt, which resulted in mismatched surfaces between the bolt and isolation mount, loss of torque during cyclic loading of the mounting bolt, and subsequent fatigue failure of the bolt.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N242US
- Reported as
- Boeing 737-201
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22444
- Airframe hours
- 19,420
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-15, 15,500 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- Piedmont Airlines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · November 1, 1989 · 569 hours before
- Destination
- CLT · Charlotte, NC
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ORD · O'Hare Field, runway 27L, 10,141 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 37
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,105 total · 3,430 in this make and model · 195 in the last 90 days · 65 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 19 knots, gusting 28
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,200 ft broken
- Temperature
- 28 °F, dew point 18 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.