Douglas DC-8-73F incident near Wichita, Kansas, November 2, 2007
On November 2, 2007 at about 11:27 am local time, a Douglas DC-8-73F, registered N880UP, suffered minor damage in an incident near Wichita, Kansas. It was flown under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
Failure of the recirculation fan motor end ball bearing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 2, 2007 · about 11:27 am local time
- Place
- Wichita, Kansas · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Douglas DC-8-73F · all DC-8-73Fs on the register
- Registration
- N880UP · registry record · serial 46080
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane was in cruise flight when the crew detected a strange odor. When the captain opened the cockpit door, he saw smoke in the courier area. The crew donned oxygen masks, declared an emergency, and diverted to the nearest suitable airport. The crew then noticed heavy smoke coming from the lavatory and heard a motor running continuously. The captain discharged a Halon fire extinguisher into the lavatory compartment and the smoke subsided. Post-incident examination revealed the lavatory fan functioned normally, but the recirculation fan, located beneath the lavatory, had seized. The motor end ball bearing, located below the fan rotor, had failed, allowing the motor rotor to make contact with the motor stator.
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, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 68 in the last 90 days; 18 in the last 30 days; 2,441 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: June 1, 2007
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
Co-pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,225 in this make and model
- Last flight review: April 1, 2007
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rear
- Injury: no injuries
Flight Engineer
- Certificate: flight engineer
- Flight time: 2,711 hours in all
- Seat: ctr
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Maximum gross weight: 287,000 lb
- Seats: 7
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: SDF Louisville KY at 10:13 am
- Destination: ONT Ontario CA
- Flight plan: IFR
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: dawn
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 37°F (3°C), dew point 30°F (-1°C)
- Altimeter: 30.12 inHg
- Observation at 5:53 am from ICT
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
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 DEN08IA022.