NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CHI86IA034
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
DURING CLIMB A BANG WAS HEARD AND THE AIRCRAFT SHUDDERED. THE CREW STATED THAT THE NUMBER THREE ENGINE OIL PRESSURE AND OIL QUANTITY INDICATED LOW. THE FIRE WARNING LIGHT AND BELL ACTIVVATED. THE ENGINE WAS SHUT DOWN AND THE AIRCRAFT LANDED WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. POSTFLIGHT INSPECTION REVEALED THE OUTBOARD COWLING OF THE NUMBER THREE ENGINE HAD SEPARATED. THE COWLING WAS FOUND IN A SUBURB TEN MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE AIRPORT. ENGINE TEARDOWN REVEALED A CRACK IN A VENT LINE STRUT IN THE DIFFUSER AREA ALLOWING BLEED AIR TO IGNITE OIL IN THE NUMBER THREE BEARING AREA. PRESSURE FORCED THE FIRE TO VENT THROUGH THE COMPARTMENT BREATHER AIR TUBE DISINTEGRATING THE MAIN BEARING BREATHER TUGE ELBOW. THE FORCE OF THE EXPLOSION AT THE DISINTEGRATING ELBOW BLEW THE OUTBOARD COWLING OFF. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1985_CHI86IA034.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.