McDonnell Douglas MD-83 N875RA

Summary

On 18 June 1997 at about 00:01 local time, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 registered N875RA was involved in an incident near Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. 145 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

18 June 1997 at 00:01

Classification

Incident

Location

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas MD-83

Registration

N875RA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Colorado Spring

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX97IA209

Nobody was injured.

the maintenance/overhaul facility's improper repair, which led to obstructed oil supply hole(s) at the #5 bearing inner race, then oil starvation and subsequent uncontained engine failure.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The aircraft experienced an uncontained left engine failure during the initial climb after takeoff. The flight returned to the airport, and an uneventful landing was made. The engine was removed and returned to the repair facility that performed major repairs just 76.9 flight hours prior. During the teardown examination, the No. 5 bearing inner race retaining nut oil supply holes were found plugged. According to the Pratt and Whitney Standard Practices Manual, the procedure for the plating of silver over steel specified that the No. 5 bearing race should have been grit blasted to remove old plating per Service Process Operations Procedure (SPOP) 10, which specified use of PMC 3052-9 aluminum oxide grit. The SPOP consumable materials list identified PMC 3052-9 as 500 aluminum oxide grit. The actual processing of the nut included grit blasting with 120 grit aluminum oxide, contrary to P&W recommendation to use 200 to 500 aluminum grit oxide media or glass beads. The nut was to be cleaned and flushed after the blasting.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.