A B737-700 flight crew declared an emergency and diverted to the nearest suitable airport when the left engine seized following several vibration cycles at cruise.
Synopsis
A B737-700 flight crew declared an emergency and diverted to the nearest suitable airport when the left engine seized following several vibration cycles at cruise.
Narrative
We were in cruise at 38;000 FT. About 100 miles east of MCI; I noticed a very small vibration almost sounding like a lavatory motor that runs longer than it should. The vibration went away after five seconds. There was no anomaly noted on the engine instruments. The same vibration came back a few more times and would go away in about five seconds with roughly five minutes elapsing between each occurrence. Before the last time the last vibration came back; I asked the First Officer to ask Center for lower because I didn't like that the vibration kept coming back even thought we tried speeds from .80 to .75 in .01 increments.Out of FL360 there was a much more noticeable vibration; which we actually felt through our seats. At this point; the left engine failed; the autopilot disengaged and various alarms illuminated on the engine instrument display screen. The Engine Failure and Driftdown checklists were accomplished after declaring an emergency with Center. A single engine overweight landing was accomplished at the nearest suitable airport.After an initial inspection by company Maintenance I was informed the left engine had seized to the point where you could not even turn the fan blades. A substantial amount of melted engine parts were also found in the tailpipe.
Second reporter narrative
[No substantive additional information was included in the secondary narrative.]
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.