Boeing 767 N345AN

Summary

On 28 October 2016, a Boeing 767 registered N345AN, operated by American Airlines Inc, was involved in an accident near Chicago, Illinois, United States. 170 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 20 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 October 2016

Classification

Accident

Location

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Chicago O'Hare International A (KORD)

Coordinates

41.9689, -87.9178

Aircraft

Boeing 767

Registration

N345AN

Category

Airplane

Year built

2003

Engines

2

Operator

American Airlines Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chicago → Miami

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DCA17FA021

1 person was seriously injured.

The failure of the high-pressure turbine (HPT) stage 2 disk, which severed the main engine fuel feed line and breached the right main wing fuel tank, releasing fuel that resulted in a fire on the right side of the airplane during the takeoff roll. The HPT stage 2 disk failed because of low-cycle fatigue cracks that initiated from an internal subsurface manufacturing anomaly that was most likely not detectable during production inspections and subsequent in service inspections using the procedures in place. Contributing to the serious passenger injury was (1) the delay in shutting down the left engine and (2) a flight attendant's deviation from company procedures, which resulted in passengers evacuating from the left overwing exit while the left engine was still operating. Contributing to the delay in shutting down the left engine was (1) the lack of a separate checklist procedure for Boeing 767 airplanes that specifically addressed engine fires on the ground and (2) the lack of communication between the flight and cabin crews after the airplane came to a stop.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

NTSB investigators traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report. The NTSB's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-18/01. On October 28, 2016, about 1432 central daylight time, American Airlines flight 383, a Boeing 767-323, N345AN, had started its takeoff ground roll at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, when an uncontained engine failure in the right engine and subsequent fire occurred. The flight crew aborted the takeoff and stopped the airplane on the runway, and the flight attendants initiated an emergency evacuation. Of the 2 flight crewmembers, 7 flight attendants, and 161 passengers on board, 1 passenger received a serious injury and 1 flight attendant and 19 passengers received minor injuries during the evacuation. The airplane was substantially damaged from the fire. The airplane was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. 

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.