NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DCA89IA016
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
FUSELAGE SKIN 'FLAPPED' OPEN BETWEEN BODY STATIONS 1090 AND 1110 AND PEELED DOWNWARD FROM STRINGER #4 LEFT TO STRINGER #5 LEFT. A SCRATCH OR SCRIBE MARK WAS CO-LOCATED WITH THE LONGITUDINAL CRACK ALONG STRINGER #4. THE AREA OF DAMAGE WAS LOCATED ON THE AFT UPPER SIDE, FWD OF THE INLET FOR THE #2 ENGINE. THE CRACK HAD INITIATED AT MULTIPLE ORIGINS ALONG THE SCORE MARK AND HAD GROWN BY FATIGUE THROUGH THE THICKNESS OF THE MATERIAL. A STRIATION COUNT FOUND THAT BETWEEN 3360 AND 5040 CYCLES OF FATIGUE PROGRESSION WERE PRESENT. THE SCRATCH/SCORE WAS MADE BY USE OF MARKING TOOLS DURING A REPAIR PROCESS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1988_DCA89IA016.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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