NTSB investigating report of engine failure on a Delta jet
Published 1:30 am Thursday, September 6, 2018
Associated Press
Safety investigators said Thursday that they are looking into a reported engine breakdown on a Delta Air Lines jet shortly after takeoff.
The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted that it was investigating a reported “uncontained” engine failure on Wednesday night’s Delta Flight 1418 from Atlanta to Orlando, Florida.
The NTSB said the crew of the Boeing 757-200 jet with 127 people on board shut down the engine and returned safely to Atlanta. The NTSB said there were no injuries.
An uncontained failure occurs when rotating engine parts break off and can penetrate the engine housing or other areas of the plane. An uncontained engine failure on a Southwest Airlines plane killed a passenger earlier this year.
An NTSB spokesman declined to comment about the Delta incident beyond the tweet. Atlanta-based Delta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to data captured by tracking service FlightAware.com, the Delta jet took off shortly after 11 p.m. and climbed to about 18,000 feet in eight minutes before slowing down, leveling off, and then beginning a measured descent back to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The plane was in the air for about 28 minutes.
Modern airliners are designed — and pilots are trained — to fly safely with one engine. The greatest danger posed by an engine failure is that broken pieces of the engine become shrapnel, damaging key controls or striking the fuselage.
That is what happened to Southwest Flight 1380 as it cruised 32,000 feet over Pennsylvania on April 17. A woman in a window seat was pushed partly out of the broken window, suffering fatal injuries. The pilots were able to land in Philadelphia without serious injuries to other passengers. The NTSB scheduled a hearing on that case Nov. 14.
