- Date
- December 14, 1990, 21:10 local (Dec 15, 1990, 04:10 UTC)
- Place
- Denver, CO
- Injuries
- 57 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N609AWBritish Aerospace BAE 146-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901214064279I
- Case key
- 18039
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
The NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The catastrophic failure of the no.12 blade on the 4th stage turbine wheel, and failure of company maintenance personnel to identify the preexisting crack during maintenance inspection.
Analysis
As the flight was climbing through FL210, the crew heard an explosion and flames were seen coming from the tailpipe of no.3 engine. The engine was secured and the airplane landed uneventfully. Examination revealed an uncontained failure. A preexisting crack was found in the no.12 blade on the 4th stage turbine wheeel. Maintenance records disclosed the wheel had recently undergone a dye penetrant inspection. No cracks were noted. The engine had accrued 99 cycles and 66 hours over a period of 13 days from the time of the last inspection and the time of the engine failure.
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
- N609AW
- Reported as
- British Aerospace BAE 146-200 (BAE 146-20)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- E2070
- Engine
- Lycoming ALF-502-R-5, 7,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Air Wisconsin, Inc.
- Destination
- ASE · Aspen, CO
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- 36
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 2,000 in this make and model · 12,000 as pilot in command · 225 in the last 90 days · 75 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- DEN
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N609AW · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.