Excuse Me, Can you Get the Captain.....

JEP

Does It Really Matter....?
Staff member
First a thud, then a hole in jet engine

Star Tribune
Last update: March 26, 2009 - 12:29 AM

Brandon Snetsinger

Northwest Airlines passenger Brandon Snetsinger said he was "just flying along above the clouds" when he heard "a thud."

"I looked out my window and noticed the hole in the engine," said Snetsinger, who on Wednesday recounted his hastily reconfigured trip from the Twin Cities to Phoenix on Monday and can count a photograph he took of the hole among his travel souvenirs.

Snetsinger, of Greenfield, Minn., said he waited a moment or two after the thud, but "with nobody from the flight crew doing anything different, I called for the flight attendant. She called the captain, and he came back to look.

"He walked a lot faster back to the cabin than he did to come check it out."
Flight 121 was diverted to Denver, where its 165 passengers were put on a different plane later that day.

The airline said the hole was in the left engine inlet of the twin-engine Boeing 757-200.

"The left engine inlet has been replaced, and the aircraft is back in service," NWA spokeswoman Leslie Parker said Wednesday. The damaged part is being examined by engineers to determine how the hole was made, said Parker, who added that the engine "remained fully functional."
PAUL WALSH
nwa757.jpg
 
Sounds like the passenger did a good job not alarming the other passengers by not doing anything frantic.
 
Good to see that NW crew being so attentive. Quite a stark contrast to that crew on the Concorde who wanted to continue on their trans-Atlantic flight to Europe after being told by a passenger AND ATC they had a hole in their wing. :drool: Oy Vey!
 
Fan blade you think?

Very unlikely.

If you threw a fan blade the whole engine becomes terribly unbalanced and would shake the hell out of the airframe. The pilots would have that indication through instruments that measure vibration as well as feeling it....the engine wouldn't remain fully functional as the article says...In my case (ERJ Rolls Royce Engines) it would require a shutdown if it didn't fail itself.
 
How the hell does something like that happen. Only thing I can think of is maybe a rivet or a screw popped out and got thrown into the side of the inlet.
 
Hahaha, I liked the part of the article where it says "the captain walked a lot faster to the cockpit than he did when he came out".
 
A friend of mine once was taxing out at LHR when an FA called him as a passenger notified her that a mechanics tool had been left on the wing - had to go back, get deiced, and join the back of the line.
 
Why's that?

Post 9-11 our ops manuals said that we came out only for physiological. That was the forward lav. Tour the cabin? Why? The FA told him there was a hole in the engine nacelle. His instruments would have indicated a problem.. but then..

Back when the mighty tri-motor (727) was queen of the fleet, I think it was American that tossed either number 1 or 3 while enroute. The engine was normally visible via the aft rows. When it seized, as designed, the engine tore off the mounts. The FA went to the cockpit and told the crew "We have lost an engine!" The crew said, "We know" meaning the instruments had shown a failure, not a separation. They had done the engine failure checklist. It took a while for the FA to convince the crew the engine was no longer attached to the airplane.

Personally.. I would have stayed in the seat, asked the FA to check and report back if there were changes. Contact the company and advise of the problem and the wait to see if the engine required shutdown.

...your mileage may differ.
 
Post 9-11 our ops manuals said that we came out only for physiological. That was the forward lav. Tour the cabin? Why? The FA told him there was a hole in the engine nacelle. His instruments would have indicated a problem.. but then..

Back when the mighty tri-motor (727) was queen of the fleet, I think it was American that tossed either number 1 or 3 while enroute. The engine was normally visible via the aft rows. When it seized, as designed, the engine tore off the mounts. The FA went to the cockpit and told the crew "We have lost an engine!" The crew said, "We know" meaning the instruments had shown a failure, not a separation. They had done the engine failure checklist. It took a while for the FA to convince the crew the engine was no longer attached to the airplane.

Personally.. I would have stayed in the seat, asked the FA to check and report back if there were changes. Contact the company and advise of the problem and the wait to see if the engine required shutdown.

...your mileage may differ.

Personally, I would've looked at it myself or at the least, had my FO (assuming I'm a captain, I'm an FO) look at it. Not that I'm a well trained mechanic nor am I putting the FA's skill down, but I think this is a safety call where you can divert from SOP. Cause in all reality, with what I'd rather risk cockpit safety for (opening door) is a gaping hole in an engine and not physiological needs. Besides, I'm sure the FA looked at the hole him/herself and decided that it would be best of the captain was notified. just my two cents.
 
If I'm the captain and someone says that a hole just blew open in my engine then I'm sure as hell gonna look at it myself to determine the severity.
 
If I'm the captain and someone says that a hole just blew open in my engine then I'm sure as hell gonna look at it myself to determine the severity.

I'd think a hole in the engine is severe damage. JMHO
 
If I'm the captain and someone says that a hole just blew open in my engine then I'm sure as hell gonna look at it myself to determine the severity.


Everyone has a camera phone. take a picture. "Yep.. looks like a hole to me..":D

Note too that in the photo provided, no smears, no stains, no indication other than a hole in the COWLING. No little monster eating away at the wing..

Oh, but IF you do go back, do you wear your hat? Coat buttoned of course.. but hat??

As noted, your mileage may vary.

these I would want to study a minute or two...:nana2:

airplane_inflight_damaged_engine_berro.jpg






Singles06.Emirates1.GIF
 
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