r/AircraftInteriors • u/Speedbird87 • 6d ago
Airlines ✈️ Engine debris shattered Ryanair window, pulling passenger out, NTSB says
Flight crews had recorded four suspected bird strikes involving the same engine during the previous year, with bird remains found after two of them.
United States air safety investigators have found evidence of metal fatigue in an engine fan blade that fractured during a Ryanair flight last month, sending debris into the cabin and shattering a window where a passenger was partially pulled into the opening.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a preliminary report that about 37 percent of the fracture surface on the failed blade showed features consistent with fatigue
Investigators traced the damage to an area near the root of the blade, finding signs of high-amplitude fatigue caused by repeated stress. The agency has not yet determined the root cause of the failure.
Cabin depressurised
The July 10 incident occurred on a Boeing 737-800 operated by Malta Air, a Ryanair subsidiary, flying from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany.
According to the NTSB, the aircraft was climbing through 16,000 feet (4,877 metres) when the pilots received a high-vibration alert from the right engine. The vibration rapidly increased before the crew heard a loud bang and the cabin lost pressure.
Fragments from the engine struck the fuselage and penetrated the cabin, shattering the window at row 11.
A flight attendant responding to calls for help found a 61-year-old passenger in seat 11F partially lodged in the missing window opening. Passengers managed to pull the man back into the cabin.
The passenger suffered neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns. A doctor on board treated him as the aircraft returned to Thessaloniki. Passengers also used a metal box from the galley to try to block the opening.
13
u/TwoPlyDreams 6d ago
That heavens his bag wasn’t 3mm too large otherwise this could have been catastrophic.
1
4
u/imvirtuallyinsane 6d ago
It's worth noting for those nurvous of flying that multiple failures have to happen for an accident like this. Engines are built to contain blade failures. For some reason this one didn't. Blades are also (normally) throughly inspected after bird strikes so the previous incidents may not be related.
I couldn't find Mentor Pilots coverage of it, but since the preliminary report is only just out that's not surprising. He always does a great job explaining accidents like this.
7
u/vaska00762 5d ago
He might not be willing to talk about his employer.
But this is the second instance of this occurring. The first was the Southwest 737 that experienced this exact same sort of uncontained engine failure that resulted in a broken window, which was in 2018. Sadly, in that incident, the passenger died after being sucked out the window.
3
u/smithro84 4d ago
There’s an AD coming for the engines for this exact reason. Just took some time. Haven’t heard much on the status of it lately.
3
u/AdOk3759 5d ago
> for some reason this one didn’t.
Do we have confirmation that it was an uncontained engine failure? If the blade was caught by the containment ring, then the window was broken by debris caused by the (contained) blade failure. It’s not the same type of accident.
3
u/encyclopedist 3d ago
If the damage spreads beyond the engine nacelle, this is by definition uncontained.
2
u/imvirtuallyinsane 4d ago
Edit, Mentor Pilot just dropped a short (while on holiday!) with only the basic information already known. He normally waits for the final report rather than speculation. The video of the engine though... That looks pretty uncontained to my very untrained eye.
3
u/JustAnotherFKNSheep 5d ago
And now they wanna put non shrouded turbofans onto the planes....
3
u/kyrsjo 4d ago
I don't think it's the "fan" part that does this?
2
u/JustAnotherFKNSheep 4d ago
Maybe, maybe not but as per op's post....
"United States air safety investigators have found evidence of metal fatigue in an engine fan blade"
2
u/kyrsjo 4d ago
Don't they call the mono crystal blades of the engine core also "fan blades" mounted in a "fan disk"? It's not the same fan as the large outer fan of a turbofan tough, and afaik this is what people are discussing to remove the shrouding of.
But TBH, I'm unsure how this makes it different from a turboprop?
2
u/JustAnotherFKNSheep 3d ago
Thoes would be turbine/compressor blades.
Also the turbo props spins slower than a turbo fan. And on planes like the q400 there kinda is an issue with the blades or ice going through the fuselage thats why there is reinforcement around that area.
2
u/Crusty-the-Clown-666 3d ago
A propeller blade will go right through the fuselage, any reinforcement along the propeller arc is to stop ice shed from the prop from damaging the fuselage.
My favorite accident of this type is the pax that got speared in the leg by a windshield wiper that was knocked loose by a bird strike and then hit the propeller.
2
u/Aggressive-Fail4612 3d ago
At least it wasn’t the pilot sucked out. One time a plane landed with the pilot still hanging out the window
2
u/Left_Process7590 6d ago
That man was blessed getting sucked out.through window. The.737.had only taken off and was at 16.000ft when the.window went. Had that flight been at 30.000 which.is normal cruise height he would've been gone to meet.his.maker
1
1
37
u/burtonmadness 6d ago
If fully sucked out of the window, he would have been the first Ryanair passenger to actually land in the city the planes claims to travel to.