ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 N908VJ Atlanta-William B. Hartsfield International Airport, GA (ATL)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Thursday 8 June 1995
Time:19:08
Type:Silhouette image of generic DC93 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
Operator:ValuJet Airlines
Registration: N908VJ
MSN: 47321/455
First flight: 1969
Total airframe hrs:630
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B
Crew:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 57
Total:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 62
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Atlanta-William B. Hartsfield International Airport, GA (ATL) (   United States of America)
Phase: Takeoff (TOF)
Nature:Domestic Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Atlanta-William B. Hartsfield International Airport, GA (ATL/KATL), United States of America
Destination airport:Miami International Airport, FL (MIA/KMIA), United States of America
Flightnumber: 597
Narrative:
At about 19:08 EDT Flight VJA 597 (Atlanta-Miami) took off from runway 27R. During the takeoff roll a loud bang was heard, and the crew of a following aircraft informed the ValuJet crew that they had an engine fire.
The takeoff was aborted immediately, but shrapnel form the uncontained engine failure penetrated the right engine main fuel line. A cabin fire erupted from the fuel that was sprayed out of the fuel line. The DC-9 was stopped on the runway, and the occupants evacuated through the forward doors and the over wing exits.
The engine failed due to a fatigue crack that had originated at a small corrosion pit on the 7th stage HP compressor disk. The corrosion had not been detected when the effected part had been inspected during overhaul by THY in 1991.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The failure of Turk Hava Yollari maintenance and inspection personnel to perform a proper inspection of a 7th stage high compressor disk, thus allowing the detectable crack to grow to a length at which the disk ruptured, under normal operating conditions, propelling engine fragments into the fuselage; the fragments severed the right engine main fuel line, which resulted in a fire that rapidly engulfed the cabin area. The lack of an adequate record-keeping system and the failure to use "process sheets" to document the step-by-step overhaul/inspection procedures contributed to the failure to detect the crack and, thus, to the accident."

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: NTSB
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 2 months
Accident number: NTSB/AAR-96-03
Download report: Final report

Sources:
» Air Safety Week 17 July 1995 (p. 5, 6)
» Aviation Week & Space Technology 17.07.95(35)
» Flight International 26 July-1 August 1995 (11)
» Uncontained Disk Failure in Right Engine of DC-9 During Initial Takeoff Run Results in Rejected Takeoff and Aircraft Evacuation (Flight Safety Foundation - Accident Prevention September 1996)
» ICAO Adrep Summary 2/97 (#82)


Follow-up / safety actions

NTSB issued 15 Safety Recommendations

Show all...

Photos

photo of DC-9-32-N908VJ
accident date: 08-06-1995
type: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
registration: N908VJ
 

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Atlanta-William B. Hartsfield International Airport, GA to Miami International Airport, FL as the crow flies is 953 km (596 miles).

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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DC-9-30

  • 662 built
  • 52nd loss
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