- Northwest Airlines Flight 5
-
Northwest Airlines Flight 5 Incident summary Date January 4, 1990 Type In-flight engine failure and subsequent loss of the engine Site near Madison, Florida, United States
30°38′N 83°24′W / 30.633°N 83.4°WCoordinates: 30°38′N 83°24′W / 30.633°N 83.4°WPassengers 139 Crew 6 Fatalities 0 Survivors 145 (all) Aircraft type Boeing 727-251 Operator Northwest Airlines Tail number N280US Flight origin Miami International Airport Destination Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport Northwest Airlines Flight 5 was a flight from Miami International Airport to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, which, on January 4, 1990, suffered the loss of the number three (starboard) engine at 35,000 feet (11,000 m) in mid-flight over Madison, Florida.[1]
The Boeing 727-251, operated by Northwest Airlines, took off from Miami at 08:15 EST on the morning of January 4, 1990. About an hour later, at approximately 09:10 EST, the pilots reported hearing a loud bang towards the rear of the aircraft.[1] The 14 year old jet continued to fly normally and the crew, not knowing that an engine had fallen off,[2] flew for almost 50 minutes before carrying out a safe emergency landing at Tampa International Airport at 09:58 EST.[3] The engine, a Pratt & Whitney JT8D-15, was found a day later in a field near Madison, Florida.[3]
After landing, inspection crews found the forward lavatory external seal was missing and had probably been improperly installed, causing a leakage when the plane was pressurized. The missing seal caused frozen chunks of lavatory fluid to be ingested by the number three engine thus damaging the compressor blades.[4] Upon failure the engine separated from the aircraft fuselage, as it had been designed to do.[1]
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined the probable cause of the incident to be "the failure of company service personnel to properly service the airplane forward lavatory."[4]
References
- ^ a b c Weiner, Eric (January 5, 1990). "Jet Lands After an Engine Drops Off". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/05/us/jet-lands-after-an-engine-drops-off.html. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
- ^ Weiner, Eric (January 6, 1990). "Pilots Had No Way of Knowing Jet Engine Fell Off, Experts Say". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/06/us/pilots-had-no-way-of-knowing-jet-engine-fell-off-experts-say.html. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
- ^ a b Orsi, Jennifer (January 6, 1990). "Engine that fell from airliner found in Madison County". St. Petersburg Times. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19900106&id=fMsNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VnUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7002,187351. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
- ^ a b "MIA90IA047". NTSB. December 30, 1992. http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001212X22451&key=1. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
External links
← 1989 · Aviation accidents and incidents in 1990 · 1991 → Jan 04 Northwest Airlines Flight 5
Jan 25 Avianca Flight 52
Feb 14 Indian Airlines Flight 605
Apr 09 Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2254Apr 12 Widerøe Flight 839
May 11 Philippine Airlines Flight 143
Jun 10 British Airways Flight 5390
Aug 02 British Airways Flight 149Aug. 27 Stevie Ray Vaughan helicopter crash
Oct 02 Guangzhou Baiyun collision
Nov 14 Alitalia Flight 404
Dec 03 Detroit Wayne County airport collisionIncidents resulting in at least 50 deaths shown in italics. Deadliest incident shown in bold smallcaps.Categories:- Northwest Airlines
- Airliner accidents and incidents caused by maintenance errors
- Accidents and incidents on commercial airliners in Florida
- Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 727
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1990
- Madison County, Florida
- 1990 in the United States
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
