What happened
During the initial climb phase, while passing through approximately 5,000 feet, Valujet Flight 224, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, experienced a contained failure of its number two engine. Following the event, the flight crew successfully secured the engine and declared an emergency. Air traffic control vectored the aircraft back to the airport, where the crew performed a single-engine landing with no further incident.
The investigation
A detailed examination and teardown of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A engine were conducted to determine the source of the failure. Investigators identified that a turbine blade, part number 823201, located in the first stage high pressure turbine assembly, had failed.
Records associated with the blade part number indicated that the leading edge of this specific component had previously undergone rework following Pratt & Whitney Service Bulletin 4345 to address existing cracking. At the time of the failure, the engine had a total of 32,028 flight hours and 25,603 cycles. Since its last overhaul, the engine had accumulated 2,794 flight hours and 2,329 cycles.