Boeing 767-223(ER) incident near Los Angeles, California, June 2, 2006
On June 2, 2006 at about 7:27 pm local time, a Boeing 767-223(ER), registered N330AA, was substantially damaged in an incident near Los Angeles, California (Los Angeles airport). It was flown under rules the NTSB did not record. No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The HPT stage 1 disk failed from an intergranular fatigue crack because of GE's inadequate design of the CF6-80 series HPT stage 1 disk. The inadequate design of the disk resulted in a high stress area in the blade slot bottom aft corner that was at or nearly at the material's capability so that there was no damage tolerance such that a small dent could cause a crack to initiate and propagate to failure. Contributing to the disk's failure was the FAA's failure to mandate an accelerated inspection schedule after a previous CF6-80A uncontained HPT stage 1 disk failure had occurred and after other CF6-80A HPT disks had been found during routine overhaul to have cracks in the blade slot bottom aft corners.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- June 2, 2006 · about 7:27 pm local time
- Place
- Los Angeles, California · Los Angeles · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- not recorded
- Aircraft
- Boeing 767-223(ER) · all 767-223(ER)s on the register
- Registration
- N330AA · no longer on the register · serial 22330
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight · rules the NTSB did not record
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The Boeing 767 was undergoing a high-power test of the left-hand General Electric (GE) CF6-80C2 engine to troubleshoot a pilot's report of the engine being unable to make climb thrust. During the test, the engine experienced an uncontained failure of the high pressure turbine (HPT) stage 1 disk. Examination of the pieces of the disk revealed the disk failed from an intergranular fatigue crack that originated from a small depression on the blade slot bottom aft corner radius. There were two other intergranular fatigue cracks that originated from small depressions on other blade slot bottom aft corner radii. Intergranular fatigue cracks are typically associated with very high stresses that exceed the material's capability. GE issued service bulletins (SB) to require inspections of CF6-80A and -80C2 HPT stage 1 disks that the FAA mandated with airworthiness directives (AD), but the SBs and AD did not establish a compliance schedule. When the SBs and AD was revised to establish a compliance schedule, the schedule was such that disks with much higher cycles since new, than those that had previously failed or were found cracked, were permitted to remain in service. On August 26, 2006, the Safety Board issued safety recommendation A-06-60 through A-06-64, which addressed these deficiencies. The recommendations can be found at the following url address: http://www.ntsb.gov/recs/letters/2006/A06_60_64.pdf.
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
Crew member
No details recorded.
The aircraft
- Maximum gross weight: 350,000 lb
- Seats: 167
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine 1: General Electric CF6-80A (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: General Electric CF6-80A (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
- Operator: American Airlines INC
The flight
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 |
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.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.