Incident Overview
Description
About 5 minutes after takeoff, the pilots felt high vibrations in the airplane, and the No. 2 engines low oil pressure warning light illuminated. When the pilots attempted to shut down the No. 2 engine with the fuel lever, the lever jammed. They then shut down the engine by pulling the fire handle. The airplane returned to Cartagena for an emergency landing. An initial examination of the No. 2 engines propeller assembly revealed one of the six blades had separated through the metal base just outboard of the propeller hub. An adjacent blade was fractured through the composite airfoil at about the midspan area. The examination of the engine revealed that both of the forward engine mounts had broken, and the engine sagged to the bottom of the engine cowling. PROBABLE CAUSE: (translated from original Spanish language report) “Preventive maintenance programs which did not allow the detection of corrosion in the base of the blade with serial number FR341 leading to fatigue and separation thereof.”
Primary Cause
Lack of corrosion detection in the blade base leading to fatigue and separation.Lack of corrosion detection in the blade base leading to fatigue and separation.Share on:
