Bombardier, Inc. CL-600-2B19 incident near Cripple Creek, Colorado, January 25, 2007
On January 25, 2007 at about 11:47 pm local time, a Bombardier, Inc. CL-600-2B19, registered N17337, suffered minor damage in an incident near Cripple Creek, Colorado. It was flown under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 54 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
A fatigue fracture, which resulted in the separation of the No.1 engine fan disk. Contributing factors in the accident were the operators' maintenance personnel lack of training to be able to detect arc-out damage on the fan disk, and the fan disk manufacturer's inadequate electro-chemical etch match marking process of the fan disk to forward fan shaft that allowed for the initiation of a fatigue point that was undetected at the time of original manufacture.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 25, 2007 · about 11:47 pm local time
- Place
- Cripple Creek, Colorado · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 54 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Bombardier, Inc. CL-600-2B19
- Registration
- N17337 · registry record · serial 7337
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
While climbing through FL 240, the No. 1 engine experienced a fan disk separation, which resulted in the separation of the inlet, fan rotor assembly, the fan containment case, and portions of the thrust reverser. The airplane reversed course and landed without further incident. Postincident examination revealed minor damage to the aft portion of the fuselage and empennage. An examination of the remaining airplane systems revealed no anomalies. Portions of the fan disk were recovered and examination of the fan disk revealed fatigue striations emanating from the aft bore corner of the fan disk. The striations came from an area that exhibited characteristics consistent with arc-out damage, which was the result of improper assembly and marking procedures during the electrochemical etching process. This damage was not detected during the manufacturer's quality assurance process used by the manufacturer. Further, the operator did not detect this damage while conducting the inspections prescribed through required airworthiness directives because the inspection procedures required were not detailed enough to detect the arc-out damage and the maintenance personnel did not receive appropriate training. Following the incident, the manufacturer issued alert service bulletins and the FAA issued an airworthiness directive to resolve these issues.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 11,000 hours in all; 4,000 in this make and model; 250 in the last 90 days
- Last flight review: October 1, 2006
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
Co-pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,700 hours in all; 2,300 in this make and model; 270 in the last 90 days
- Last flight review: April 1, 2006
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 19,629 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, January 1, 2007; 13 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 53,250 lb
- Seats: 55
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: General Electric CF34-3B1 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: General Electric CF34-3B1 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Mesa Airlines INC
The flight
- Departed from: KDEN Denver CO at 11:29 pm
- Destination: KPHX Phoenix AZ
- Flight plan: IFR
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 140° at 9 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 41°F (5°C), dew point 25°F (-4°C)
- Altimeter: 30.18 inHg
- Observation at 11:54 pm from KCOS
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 4 | |||
| Passengers | 50 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number DEN07IA055.