Accident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 N60NA,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 330047

Date:	Saturday 3 November 1973
Time:	16:40
Type:	McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10
Owner/operator:	National Airlines
Registration:	N60NA
MSN:	46700/14
Year of manufacture:	1971
Total airframe hrs:	5954 hours
Engine model:	General Electric CF6-6D
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 128
Aircraft damage:	Substantial, repaired
Category:	Accident
Location:	near Socorro, NM - United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Houston-Intercontinental Airport, TX (IAH/KIAH)
Destination airport:	Las Vegas-McCarran International Airport, NV (LAS/KLAS)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
National Airlines Flight 27 departed Houston for Las Vegas and climbed to FL390. Suddenly the No. 3 engine fan assembly disintegrated and fragments penetrated the fuselage the Nos. 1 and 2 engine nacelles, and the right wing area. As a result, the cabin depressurized and one cabin window, which was struck by a fragment of the fan assembly, separated from the fuselage. The passenger who was sitting next to that window was forced through the opening and ejected from the aircraft. The flightcrew initiated an emergency descent, and the aircraft landed safely at Albuquerque International Airport 19 minutes after the engine failed.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The disintegration of the No. 3 engine fan assembly as a result of an interaction between the fan blade tips and the fan case. The fan-tip rub condition was caused by the acceleration of the engine to an abnormally high fan speed which initiated a multiwave, vibratory resonance within the fan section of the engine. The precise reason or reasons for the acceleration and the onset of the destructive vibration could not be determined conclusively."

Accident investigation: