- Date
- August 14, 1992, 19:15 local (Aug 15, 1992, 00:15 UTC)
- Place
- Dfw Airport, TX
- Injuries
- 133 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N956DLMcdonnell Douglas MD-88
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 18392
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 loss of engine power due to the fracture of a fan blade resulting from a manufacturing defect.
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.
Analysis
The takeoff was aborted as the airplane was accelerating through 90 knots. Examination of the airplane revealed that the number one engine experienced a failure of one fan blade in the fan disk due to a manufacturing defect.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N956DL
- Reported as
- Mcdonnell Douglas MD-88
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 49887
- Airframe hours
- 6,840
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-219, 21,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Delta Airlines
- Registered owner
- Wilmington Trust Co.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · August 8, 1992 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- DFW
- Destination
- ELP · El Paso, TX
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- DFW · Dfw International, runway 36, 11,338 × 200 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
- 46
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12,432 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 50° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DFW, 1 nm away