A DELTA AIR LINES Boeing 727 suffered engine surge followed by the uncontained turbine failure of one of its three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-15A engines during a climb from New York's LaGuardia Airport, on 14 August, says the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The incident, the second Delta JT8D turbine failure this year, will confirm the NTSB's already-stated concerns about alloy-forging techniques used for some JT8D turbine hubs before 1989.
The surge caused engine debris to fall into a residential area. The captain decided to return to LaGuardia. The earlier event, which prompted NTSB warnings, involved a Delta 727, which had a similar turbine failure when it left LaGuardia on 30 January.
In June, the NTSB demanded that periodic checks on pre-1989 JT8D turbines should be implemented immediately.
In an unrelated incident, a JT8D-219 on a Delta McDonnell Douglas MD-88 at Pensacola on 6 July suffered uncontained fan-hub failure, which killed two passengers (Flight International, 17-23 July).
Source: Flight International
