Incident Overview
On an unspecified date, ValuJet Flight 224, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 (registration not provided), experienced a failure of the No. 2 engine during the climb. The aircraft had just departed and was climbing through approximately 5,000 feet when the engine failure occurred. The crew promptly secured the affected engine and declared an emergency. Air traffic control vectored the aircraft back to the departure airport, where a single-engine landing was completed without further incident.
Engine Examination
Post-incident examination and teardown of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A engine revealed that a turbine blade (part number 823201) in the first stage high pressure turbine assembly had failed due to fatigue. The blade's part number indicated that its leading edge had been reworked in accordance with Pratt & Whitney Service Bulletin 4345 to address cracking. The engine had accumulated a total of 32,028 flight hours and 25,603 cycles since new, and 2,794 flight hours and 2,329 cycles since its last overhaul.
Conclusions
No other anomalies were found during the investigation. The failure was contained within the engine, and no further damage to the aircraft was reported. No injuries were mentioned in the source material.