McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 N1852U

Summary

On 27 October 1984 at about 18:18 local time, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 registered N1852U was involved in an incident near Chicago, Illinois, United States. 276 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

27 October 1984 at 18:18

Classification

Incident

Location

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Chicago O'hare Intl (ORD)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30

Registration

N1852U

Category

Airplane

Engines

3

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Honolulu

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI85IA032

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, THE FLIGHT CREW HEARD A NOISE FROM THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE AIRCRAFT, WHICH SOUNDED LIKE AN ENGINE COMPRESSOR STALL. THE #3 ENGINE WAS SHUT DOWN & THE CREW MADE AN UNEVENTFUL LANDING AT THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT. PIECES OF COWLING FROM THE RIGHT ENGINE FELL IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA, BUT DID NO DAMAGE. TEARDOWN OF THE ENGINE REVEALED THAT TURBINE BLADES ON THE FIRST STAGE LOW PRESSURE TURBINE WHEEL HAD BROKEN OFF & HAD PENETRATED THE ENGINE CASE & CORE COWL DOORS. FURTHER INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT 2 STUD BOLTS (SADDLE BOLTS) HAD PULLED OUT FROM STRUT BOSSES 2 & 3 IN THE TURBINE MID FRAME (TMF), WHICH PLACED AN ADDITIONAL LOAD ON STRUT BOSSES 1 & 4. EVENTUALLY, THE 1 & 4 SADDLE BOLTS PULLED LOOSE & ALLOWED THE NOZZLE SUPPORT FLANGE TO SHIFT REARWARD. THIS SHIFT ALLOWED THE NOZZLE SEGMENTS TO COME IN CONTACT WITH THE LOW PRESSURE TURBINE & RESULT IN THE FAILURE. THERE WAS INDICATION THAT UNAUTHORIZED REWORK HAD BEEN ACOMPLISHED ON THE SADDLE BOLTS BEFORE OWNER (UNITED AIRLINE) HAD PURCHASED THE AIRPLANE FROM ANOTHER (LAKER) AIRLINE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.