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Southwest engine failure

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  • atticus finch

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    Actually ONLY one blade of the turbine broke loose and trashed the cowling, causing the rest of the damage to the engine and the plane.

    You can see the empty spot near this guy’s elbow and the bent blades on either side of the gap.



    View attachment 135878

    Thats the low pressure-compressor on the front of the engine, not the turbine.
    Very odd, one blade came loose yet no impact damage on the rest of the blades, something like that there should be impact marks on the leading edge of the rest of the blades.
    Something of a blessing in disguise, all the other blades weren't hit and disintegrate from the impact, kept that compressor from coming too far out of balance.
    Blade seal strip looks like it has galling on it but it's hard to tell from the pic.
     

    Big Dipper

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    Thats the low pressure-compressor on the front of the engine, not the turbine.
    Very odd, one blade came loose yet no impact damage on the rest of the blades, something like that there should be impact marks on the leading edge of the rest of the blades.
    Something of a blessing in disguise, all the other blades weren't hit and disintegrate from the impact, kept that compressor from coming too far out of balance.
    Blade seal strip looks like it has galling on it but it's hard to tell from the pic.

    If you look more closely, the front edge of the blade next to the missing one, counterclockwise, (8:30) has been deformed.
     

    LOCKHART

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    There's a factory on east side of IH-35, between Kyle & San Marcos, called "C-FAN". I think they make those turbine blades there. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
     

    LOCKHART

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    Saw an episode of "How it's made" and couldn't believe those blades are CASTINGS! I would think that something spinning that fast would be a FORGING.
     

    oldag

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    WSJ:

    Fan Blade, Engine Cover Are Factors in Southwest Flight 1380 Engine Failure
    Fatal accident likely to prompt federal review of inspection procedures


    Article available at wsj.com
     

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    benenglish

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    It seems to me that I've seen and read several stories (I think including a Myth busters episode) over the years that state it's impossible for a person to be sucked through a broken airplane window yet this woman almost was.
    I'm just spitballin', mind you, but I think the thing that's fake about the movies is how a missing airplane window causes everything in the cabin to become airborne and head outside.

    OTOH, if I were sitting next to a window that suddenly shattered, the Bernoulli effect would likely pull me right out. Someone or anything two feet away would be unaffected but if I were within a few inches of the airstream, I can well imagine being pulled into it.
     

    Brains

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    I'm just spitballin', mind you, but I think the thing that's fake about the movies is how a missing airplane window causes everything in the cabin to become airborne and head outside.

    OTOH, if I were sitting next to a window that suddenly shattered, the Bernoulli effect would likely pull me right out. Someone or anything two feet away would be unaffected but if I were within a few inches of the airstream, I can well imagine being pulled into it.
    ouj1v.jpg
     

    LOCKHART

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    If you are nervous about flying then don't watch "Air Disasters" on the Smithsonian channel. A lot of planes crash for the dumbest of reasons. This show will give you the jitters about flying.
     

    majormadmax

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    If you are nervous about flying then don't watch "Air Disasters" on the Smithsonian channel. A lot of planes crash for the dumbest of reasons. This show will give you the jitters about flying.

    I fly all the time, and still love that show but it makes my wife nervous! She still watches it though!

    And yes, it is entirely possible for an adult human to be sucked out of a broken/missing window due to the large amount of difference in pressure between the inside of the aircraft and the outside of the aircraft...

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/southw...-how-can-a-person-be-sucked-from-an-airplane/
     

    atticus finch

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    If you look more closely, the front edge of the blade next to the missing one, counterclockwise, (8:30) has been deformed.

    yes it does look deformed. Strange, it's not a sharp edge like a high speed impact such as what would occur there, rounded & smooth it appears.
    Blade hit on the side & bounced out?
     

    Ole Cowboy

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    I was a Machinist working at Southwest Airomotive (AFL-CIO-IAM Dallas Love Field Local) and we rebuilt those engines, the guys doing the blades were just down from me (my specialty was fuel injection systems) but I would go down to their shop after work and get some parts magnafluxed and weighed for my race car.

    My guess: We were constantly being pushed by Mgt to 'work faster, do more than the day before mentality. QC only pulls some many of them for confirmation on the magnaflux and the weight. The whole blade is weighed and then each end is weighed and also spec'd for size. Its tight and anything showing on the magnaflux is a turn down, but those lines can be extremely faint and guys eyes get tired or a blink as the blade is being turned. They could have missed on a faint stress line that finally appeared many hrs later in a catastrophic event. It's a tight inspection and lots of checks and I know it would be rare that one ever slipped thru, but it's possible. I think it was a fatigue due to an internal undetected stress fracture.
     

    oldag

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    I was a Machinist working at Southwest Airomotive (AFL-CIO-IAM Dallas Love Field Local) and we rebuilt those engines, the guys doing the blades were just down from me (my specialty was fuel injection systems) but I would go down to their shop after work and get some parts magnafluxed and weighed for my race car.

    My guess: We were constantly being pushed by Mgt to 'work faster, do more than the day before mentality. QC only pulls some many of them for confirmation on the magnaflux and the weight. The whole blade is weighed and then each end is weighed and also spec'd for size. Its tight and anything showing on the magnaflux is a turn down, but those lines can be extremely faint and guys eyes get tired or a blink as the blade is being turned. They could have missed on a faint stress line that finally appeared many hrs later in a catastrophic event. It's a tight inspection and lots of checks and I know it would be rare that one ever slipped thru, but it's possible. I think it was a fatigue due to an internal undetected stress fracture.

    Magnaflux and dye penetrant can be hard to read at times. Surface conditions (mold lines, surface scratches, etc.) can sometime be deceiving. And as you say, when you are doing this all day, fatigue can set in.
     

    atticus finch

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    I was a Machinist working at Southwest Airomotive (AFL-CIO-IAM Dallas Love Field Local) and we rebuilt those engines, the guys doing the blades were just down from me (my specialty was fuel injection systems) but I would go down to their shop after work and get some parts magnafluxed and weighed for my race car.

    My guess: We were constantly being pushed by Mgt to 'work faster, do more than the day before mentality. QC only pulls some many of them for confirmation on the magnaflux and the weight. The whole blade is weighed and then each end is weighed and also spec'd for size. Its tight and anything showing on the magnaflux is a turn down, but those lines can be extremely faint and guys eyes get tired or a blink as the blade is being turned. They could have missed on a faint stress line that finally appeared many hrs later in a catastrophic event. It's a tight inspection and lots of checks and I know it would be rare that one ever slipped thru, but it's possible. I think it was a fatigue due to an internal undetected stress fracture.

    metal crystallization from stress induced fatigue won't be found by dye. X-ray would find the crystallization but not dye.
     

    atticus finch

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    We booked a few SWA flights for next month.
    I won't lose sleep over it.
    It's safer than DFW traffic.

    correct, odds are much better flying than driving.
    Only difference is, IF < key word, things go wrong there's a much smaller margin of error.

    If things were handled as ole cowboy says, I would have walked out of that shop and never worked there again.
    When I worked aviation, the thing uppermost in my mind was people's lives rode on my work.
    I would not compromise on that.
    Unless things have changed drastically, that was the prevailing attitude I encountered.
     

    F350-6

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    I was kind of surprised there wasn't more visible damage to the fuselage.

    My insurance agent was actually on that flight with the guy in the cowboy hat and his wife. They were one row up and across the aisle from the broken window.
     
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