What happened
During the early stages of takeoff from Cubi Point NAS, an aircraft entered its initial climb phase when a simultaneous explosion occurred in both the number two and number three engines. This catastrophic failure led to a total loss of both hydraulic and electrical systems on board.
In response to the emergency, the captain decided to ditch the aircraft. The plane impacted the water only a short distance from the shore. Of the people on board, fifteen survivors were successfully rescued from the wreckage, while one fatality was recorded.
Findings
Investigations into the incident revealed that the engine failures were triggered by improper maintenance procedures. Specifically, the ground crew had mistakenly filled the water-alcohol injection system with a mixture of water and cleaning solvent. This error caused an immediate and dangerous rise in turbine inlet temperatures as soon as the aircraft departed the runway.