ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 232858
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| Date: | Saturday 31 January 1981 |
| Time: | 18:06 |
| Type: |  McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 |
| Owner/operator: | Northwest Airlines |
| Registration: | N143US |
| MSN: | 46752/53 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1972 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 53 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor |
| Category: | Incident |
| Location: | near Washington-Dulles International Airport, DC (IAD/KIAD) -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Washington-Dulles International Airport, DC (IAD/KIAD) |
| Seattle/Tacoma International Airport, WA (SEA/KSEA) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The No. 3 engine failed as Northwest Airlines Flight 79, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40, N143US, was climbing through 6,000 feet after departing Dulles International Airport, Virginia. The flightcrew performed the appropriate emergency procedures, requested an immediate return to Dulles, and dumped 40,000 pounds of fuel. The aircraft, with 10 crewmembers and 43 passengers aboard, landed on runway 12 at 18:25 without further incident. No one aboard was injured, and damage to the aircraft was minor. There was no damage to property or injury to persons on the ground.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the incident was the high cycle fatigue fracture of the No. 30 fan blade in the No. 3 engine. The origin of the fatigue fracture on the leading edge of the fan blade was a preexisting high temperature arc burn from an undetermined source. Contributing to the damage to the aircraft and the No. 2 engine was the failure of the No. 3 engine nose cowl and fan containment case flangedfasteners due to aerodynamic loading, fan imbalance, and fan/fan case interaction which resulted in an inflight separation of the nose cowl assembly and the fan containment case.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 9 August 1989 | N133JC | Northwest Airlines | 0 | Denver, CO | |
min |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Feb-2020 10:35 | harro | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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