What happened
The incident occurred while the aircraft was climbing toward its cruise altitude. During this phase of flight, the number two engine failed. The failure was attributed to fatigue cracking affecting the stator vanes located at the fifteenth stage of the engine's compressor section.
Following the mechanical failure, the crew proceeded to land the aircraft at the airport. Upon touchdown, the digital flight data recorder captured significant forward movement of the control column. The airplane impacted the runway surface on its nose gear with considerable force. This hard landing resulted in damage to the nose gear mount and the fuselage keel beam.
The investigation
Examination of the failed engine component revealed that the number two engine had suffered from fatigue cracking. The specific area of failure was identified as the stator vanes at the fifteenth stage. Analysis of the flight data confirmed that forward control column input was recorded at the moment of touchdown, coinciding with the hard impact on the nose gear.
Findings
The primary mechanical issue was the fatigue cracking of the fifteen-stage stator vanes in the number two engine. The structural damage sustained by the aircraft included the nose gear mount and the fuselage keel beam due to the hard landing.