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Brief history of uncontained engine failures

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  • Brief history of uncontained engine failures

    Starting in 1942, German jet powered aircraft were destroying themselves at an alarming rate due to turbine section failures. Inferior quality metal of blades or buckets used in the hot turbine section led to failures binding up inside the turbine section, rotating the aircraft or tearing the engine and airframe apart.
    In 1952, the first turbojet powered commercial transport, the British DH-106 Comet Jetliner, had engines mounted inside its wings for more aerodynamic efficiency. Engine failures were a serious problem, but no crashes resulted. However, Comet engineers surrounded their engines with armor plating.
    June 20, 1965, Pan Am Flight 843, 707-321B, had engine #4 fail, right outboard, which came loose, but then tore off 25 feet of the right wing. This failure convinced Larry Booda of Aviation Week to support my appearance before a Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Safety regarding my failure warning system.
    On 22nd August 1985, a British Airtours 737-200 suffered an uncontained engine failure during takeoff; which was promptly aborted. However, uncontained debris penetrated the center fuel tank causing a fire and explosion before all the passengers could be evacuated. Many died.
    July 19, 1989, United Airlines Flight 232, a DC-10, suffered an uncontained failure of an engine mounted internally inside the tail section. Debris severed all three hydraulic lines, leading to a total loss of flight controls. The aircraft broke up during a landing attempt in a nearby corn field with some fatalities.
    December 29, 1991, China Air Flight 358, 747-200, engine #3 failed and came loose, but went to the right and tore off engine #4. The aircraft was unmanageable and crashed, killing all the passengers and crew.
    October 4, 1992, El Al 1862, 747-200F, a freighter, lost engines #3 and #4 on takeoff from the Amsterdam airport. The crippled aircraft crashed into apartments, killing the crew and many residents.
    November 4, 2010, Qantus Flight 32, an Airbus Super Jumbo A380-852, with Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines, suffered an uncontained engine failure of engine #2, left inboard, shortly after takeoff over water. This damaged the nacelle, landing gear, flaps, braking system and ripped open two fuel tanks. A fire started near engine #1, left outboard, but burnt out, although it could have been worse and killed 585 occupants.
    August 27, 2016, a Southwest Airlines’ Boeing 737-700, with GE CFM-56 engines experienced an uncontained engine failure in the left engine, during which the nacelle’s inlet was ripped off by a fan blade breaking loose and exiting the engine. A 5-inch by 16-inch hole was also found in the fuselage, just above the left wing. While pressurization of the cabin was lost, the aircraft landed safely with one engine.
    October 28, 2016, an American Airlines’ Boeing 767, with GE CF6 engines, was taking off from O’Hare Airport, when a cracked turbine disk was reportedly blamed for the uncontained material failure of the right engine. Debris tore open a fuel tank in the right wing, creating a major fire. One piece of a turbine disk was found over 3,300 feet away. While a Kevlar shield had been installed to try to prevent uncontained debris escaping from the forward fan section, the adjoining wing had little chance of not being penetrated.
    Fortunately, the pilot was able to abort the aircraft take-off, bring the plane to a stop near the end of the runway, and everyone escaped relatively unharmed. Had the aircraft become airborne, all the occupants most likely would have died in the inevitable crash.
    November 14, 2016, an article in the Chicago Tribune indicated that engine failures were not uncommon with GE CF6 engines; with over 4,000 similar engines in service in 2016.
    January 4, 2017, a USAF B-52 bomber flying out of Minot AFB, ND, suffered a “catastrophic internal engine failure” in one of its Pratt & Whitney TF 33-P-3/103 engines. The engine ejected relatively harmlessly from one of four twin-engine pods and fell into a river bed about 25 miles NE of the base. An Air Force spokesman claimed this was a “one-off failure.” BS. I was hired by the USAF in 1958 to assist with a program created by many uncontained failures of engines on B-52 and B-47 aircraft.
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