McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 N12508
18 March 1997 · Houston, Texas, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 18 March 1997 at about 19:32 local time, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 registered N12508, operated by Continental Airlines, was involved in an incident near Houston, Texas, United States. 101 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.
The record
- Date
- at 19:32
- Classification
- Incident
- Location
- Houston, Texas, United States
- Nearest airport
- Houston Intercontinental (IAH)
- Coordinates
- 29.9909, -95.3498
- Aircraft
- McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
- Registration
- N12508
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 2
- Operator
- Continental Airlines
- Operating rule
- Part 121: Air Carrier
- Purpose of flight
- Unknown
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Unknown → Indianapolis
- Aircraft damage
- Minor
- Weather
- IMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- FTW97IA128
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 101 |
Probable cause
The failure of company maintenance personnel to perform a proper inspection of the combustion chamber outer case, thus allowing a detectable crack to grow to a length at which the case ruptured.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
An uncontained failure of the right engine occurred as the airplane lifted off the runway and began its initial takeoff climb. The airplane returned to the departure airport for a single-engine landing, and emergency crews extinguished a fire confined to the right engine's hot section. The uncontained failure resulted from a fatigue crack in the combustion chamber outer case at the forward drain boss weld. Based on an analysis of fatigue striation measurements, a detectable crack existed at the forward drain boss weld when an on wing ultrasonic inspection of the boss was performed by company maintenance personnel in December 1995.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other McDonnell Douglas DC-9 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Mar 1997 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 | Cleveland, Ohio, United States | American Airlines, Inc. | Minor injuries | - |
| 2 Sep 1997 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 (MD-82) | Seattle, Washington, United States | Alaska Airlines | Minor injuries | - |
| 25 Sep 1997 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83(MD-83) | New Orleans, Louisiana, United States | Trans World Airlines | No injuries | - |
| 20 Feb 1997 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15 | Des Moines, Iowa, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 5 Jul 1997 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 | Flint, Michigan, United States | Northwest Airlines, Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 12 Jul 1997 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15 | Memphis, Tennessee, United States | - | No injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Jun 1997 | Aero Commander CALLAIR A-9B | El Indio, Texas, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 25 Jun 1997 | Cessna 182Q | Sugar Land, Texas, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 25 Jun 1997 | Piper PA-28RT-201 | Whitewright, Texas, United States | Centerline Aviation, Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 30 Jun 1997 | Air Tractor AT-301 | Edna, Texas, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 29 Jun 1997 | Cessna 152 | Gorman, Texas, United States | Spencer Jones | Minor injuries | - |
| 2 Jul 1997 | Cessna 152 | Fort Worth, Texas, United States | Bridgeport Flight Training | Minor injuries | - |