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NYC91LA020

1990-10-28 · PARKERSBURG, West Virginia, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

N52DC has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (RANS S-21 OUTBOUND, built 2023), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF THE LEFT ENGINE FAN DISC DUE TO LOW CYCLE FATIGUE.

Factual narrative

N52DC WAS CLIMBING THRU FL280 WHEN THE FLT CREW FELT A 'VIOLENT SHUDDER' IN THE AIRFRAME AND OBSERVED INDICATIONS OF A LEFT ENGINE FAILURE. VISUAL EXAMINATION OF THE LEFT ENG REVEALED THE FAN SECTION HAD SEPARATED (UNCONTAINED FAILURE/TEARAWAY). THE AIRPLANE WAS LANDED WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. A POST-ACCIDENT EXAM OF THE PARTS REVEALED THE FAN DISC FAILED CATASTROPHICALLY DUE TO LOW CYCLE FATIGUE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_NYC91LA020.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (engine failure). All research papers