Bombardier CL-600-2B19 N244PS

Summary

On 17 October 2005 at about 04:25 local time, a Bombardier CL-600-2B19 registered N244PS, operated by PSA Airlines, Inc., was involved in an incident near West Grove, Pennsylvania, United States. 51 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 October 2005 at 04:25

Classification

Incident

Location

West Grove, Pennsylvania, United States

Coordinates

39.8392, -75.8169

Aircraft

Bombardier CL-600-2B19

Registration

N244PS

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

PSA Airlines, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Philadelphia → Dayton

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CHI06IA011

Nobody was injured.

The separation of the left engine exhaust nozzle during cruise climb due to inadequately designed attachment hardware.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The left engine exhaust nozzle and fairing departed the airplane during cruise climb. The flight crew reported hearing a "small thud" while climbing through 15,000 feet msl. The flight crew stated that they monitored the aircraft engines and no anomalies were noted. The flight crew attributed the event to possible wake turbulence and elected to continue to their scheduled destination. During a post-flight inspection the flight crew noticed the left engine exhaust nozzle and fairing were missing. The left engine exhaust nozzle was found about 26.5 nm west-southwest of the departure airport. The nozzle was examined and its attachment hardware was missing. The bolt holes used to install the exhaust nozzle to the engine were elongated and had evidence of fretting. The exhaust nozzle manufacturer issued Service Bulletin CF34-NAC-78-024 on January 24, 2003, to address "exhaust nozzle bolt attachment failures." The service bulletin called for the removal of the existing hardware and replacement with "new, improved hardware." This maintenance was to be completed at the "operator's earliest convenience or within a maximum of 4,000 hours." At the time of the incident, the airplane had accumulated 3,440 hours since new. The service bulletin had not been complied with, according to the maintenance records. The operator immediately inspected their entire fleet of Bombardier CL-600-2B19 regional jets and found three additional aircraft with either missing or loose attachment exhaust nozzle hardware. The operator ordered replacement kits for the entire fleet and will comply with Service Bulletin CF34-NAC-78-024 upon delivery of the replacement parts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.