Douglas DC-8-73F N880UP

Summary

On 2 November 2007 at about 11:27 local time, a Douglas DC-8-73F registered N880UP was involved in an incident near Wichita, Kansas, United States. 4 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

2 November 2007 at 11:27

Classification

Incident

Location

Wichita, Kansas, United States

Coordinates

37.6500, -97.3844

Aircraft

Douglas DC-8-73F

Registration

N880UP

Category

Airplane

Engines

4

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Louisville → Ontario

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

DEN08IA022

Nobody was injured.

Failure of the recirculation fan motor end ball bearing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was in cruise flight when the crew detected a strange odor. When the captain opened the cockpit door, he saw smoke in the courier area. The crew donned oxygen masks, declared an emergency, and diverted to the nearest suitable airport. The crew then noticed heavy smoke coming from the lavatory and heard a motor running continuously. The captain discharged a Halon fire extinguisher into the lavatory compartment and the smoke subsided. Post-incident examination revealed the lavatory fan functioned normally, but the recirculation fan, located beneath the lavatory, had seized. The motor end ball bearing, located below the fan rotor, had failed, allowing the motor rotor to make contact with the motor stator.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.