ʙᴏᴇɪɴɢ 𝟽𝟺𝟽 ᴄʀᴀsʜ ʟᴀɴᴅᴇᴅ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ᴅᴏᴜʙʟᴇ ᴇɴɢɪɴᴇ ғᴀɪʟᴜʀᴇ – ᴄᴇɴᴛᴜʀɪᴏɴ ᴀɪʀ ᴄᴀʀɢᴏ ғʟɪɢʜᴛ 𝟷𝟼𝟺
On Jul 7th 2008 , a Kalitta Air Boeing 747-200 on behalf of Centurion Air Cargo, registration N714CK performing freight flight WE164 from Bogota (Columbia) to Miami,FL (USA) with 8 people on board, crashed into a farm house after reporting an engine fire.
Two people inside the house were gone, a third occupant survived. The occupants of the plane survived and were rushed to the hospital of Madrid, Colombia.
On Jul 7th 2008 , a Kalitta Air Boeing 747-200 on behalf of Centurion Air Cargo, registration N714CK performing freight flight WE164 from Bogota (Columbia) to Miami,FL (USA) with 8 people on board, crashed into a farm house after reporting an engine fire.
Two people inside the house were gone, a third occupant survived. The occupants of the plane survived and were rushed to the hospital of Madrid, Colombia.
The 51-year-old captain Bryan Beebe (8,874 hours total, 2,874 hours on type) was pilot flying; the 49-year-old first officer Frank Holley (11,373 hours total, 2,853 hours on type) was pilot monitoring. The 59-year-old flight engineer Joseph Kendall had a total flying experience of 10,665 hours and 2,665 hours on type.
The crew declared emergency 2 minutes after takeoff and attempted to return to the airport. The airplane came to rest about 8 km off the airport.
The Colombian Grupo de Investigacion de Accidentes opened an investigation into the crash. The U.S National Transportation Safety Board sent five investigators to assist the Colombian investigation team. The Federal Aviation Administration, aircraft-maker Boeing Co. and engine-maker Pratt & Whitney also assisting the investigation.
Both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder were recovered and taken for an analysis. The aircraft was configured for takeoff with flaps at 10 degrees (the flaps remaining in that position until impact) with the engines at EPR between 1.69 and 1.72, when it accelerated through Vr (152 knots) and rotation was initiated.
While the aircraft rotated the pitch went through 13 degrees nose up and the airspeed had already exceeded V2 (162 KIAS) when engine #4 lost power, the engine rolling down from about 1.7 EPR to 1.0 EPR within 2–3 seconds, the engine surged 4 times during that time.
Engineers determined that the high-pressure turbine of engine #4, that had been installed during the last work shop visit in January 2008, was inefficient due to too large a blade tip clearance, the reduced chord and wear of leading edges of fan blades resulting in a loss of engine power estimated at 5.8% and impaired stability and operability of the engine.
Engine #1 then suffered a failure of the low-pressure turbine, which resulted in ejection of engine parts through the engine exhaust. The failure originated in the third stage of the LPT, engineers believe the failure started with the loss of a number of guide vanes or the loss of a large piece of outside air seal due to thermal damage.
Although an overboost condition existed outside regular engine operation range, the application of such engine power for a short period of time should not have caused an engine failure. The exact cause of the engine failure could not be determined.
Investigators noted that engine #2 suffered a rapid decline of EPR and recovery of EPR for five times, each lasting for about 2–3 seconds, the surges happening at 87 seconds, 33 seconds, 13 and 3 seconds before impact. Few minutes later, the aircraft crashed.
On 22 August 2011, the investigation board finally published the final report. The crash was caused by the failure of two engines of the aircraft, specifically engine number 4 and engine number 1. The number 4 engine suffered a non-recoverable surge during the rotation. The aircraft then struggled to climb.
As the flight crews were conducting the emergency procedure, the number 1 engine somehow failed. With two engines malfunctioning, the aircraft was unable to sustain flight in its configuration. It began to experience problems with a third engine, the inboard left-hand JT9D, which repeatedly surged.
