NTSB NYC90FA038 — 1989-12-08 · NEWARK, New Jersey, United States

N727PJ has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CESSNA 560XL, built 2001), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N727PJ Boeing 727-31 None

Probable cause & findings

THERMAL DISTRESS OF THE FIRST STAGE TURBINE BLADES OF THE NUBER ONE ENGINE CAUSING A DEGRADATION OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES WHICH RESULTED IN BLADE FRACTURES. THE REASON FOR THE THERMAL DISTRESS WAS NOT DETERMINED.

Factual narrative

AT FLIGHT LEVEL 370 THE CREW HEARD A LOUD EXPLOSION-TYPE NOISE. THE #1 ENGINE SHOWED A POWER LOSS, AND THE AIRPLANE BEGAN TO VIBRATE. THE CREW SHUT THE ENGINE DOWN, AND AN UNEVENTFUL 2-ENGINE LANDING WAS MADE AT NEWARK. AN ENGINE TURBINE BLADE WAS FOUND LODGED IN THE AIRPLANE'S VERTICAL STABILIZER. AN ENGINE TEARDOWN SHOWED THERMAL DISTRESS TO THE FIRST STAGE TURBINE BLADES CAUSING A DEGRADATION OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES RESULTING IN BLADE FRACTURES. THE CAUSE OF THE THERMAL DISTRESS WAS NOT DETERMINED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_NYC90FA038.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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