- Date
- January 21, 1984, 10:05 local (15:05 UTC)
- Place
- Tampa, FL
- Injuries
- 33 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N401EADouglas DC-9-51
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840121025549I
- Case key
- 31033
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
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
While climbing after takeoff thru about 3000 ft, the crew noted that the #2 epr had dropped about .08, from aprx 1.82 to 1.74 epr. Shortly after that, the 1st officer noted that the avm on the #2 eng was at the max indication. At about 4000 ft, there was a loud explosive type noise from the rear of the acft as the right eng lost power. The crew secured the right eng, returned to Tampa & landed without further incident. An exam revealed that turbine blades had exited the side of the eng tailpipe. Teardown revealed that the high pressure compressor center tube sealing ring had an aprx 1 in (circumferential) piece of hard surface plating missing from the outside diameter sealing surface. This failure was in axial alignment with a gap in the rear piston ring. Neither ring comformed to design specs. There was evidence that hot air caused coking of the oil. The turbine shaft had failed aprx 13 inches forward of the 4-1/2 bearing. The 4-1/2 bearing seals were damaged, 7 displayed coke deposits. The low press turbine moved aft intermeshing blades & stators.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N401EA
- Reported as
- Douglas DC-9-51
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 920VJ
- Airframe hours
- 23,349
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-17, 16,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- Eastern Airlines Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- TPA · Tampa, FL
- Destination
- ATL · Atlanta, GA
- 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
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 8,952 total · 1,023 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 17 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 41 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PIE, 2 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.