- Date
- February 12, 1990, 23:30 local (Feb 13, 1990, 04:30 UTC)
- Place
- Sarasota, FL
- Injuries
- 150 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8889ZBoeing 727-225A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900212013759I
- Case key
- 32578
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
Improper servicing of the forward lavatory by contract service personnel.
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 crew of the Boeing 727 shut down the no 3 engine due to severe vibrations. Subsequent examination revealed massive damage to the blades of the lpc. The forward lavatory had been serviced before the flight and the interior donut seal was missing. The right side of the airplane was covered with blue fluid.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8889Z
- Reported as
- Boeing 727-225A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 889-21858
- Airframe hours
- 28,887
- Engine
- P&W JT-8D-15, 15,500 lbs thrust, turbo jet
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- Eastern Airlines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · June 5, 1989
- Departed
- 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
- Age
- 55
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,217 total · 1,713 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 350° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SRQ, 25 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.