Mcdonnell-Douglas DC-10-30 incident near Bogota, CO, March 26, 2009
On March 26, 2009 at about 6:15 am local time, a Mcdonnell-Douglas DC-10-30, registered N526MD, suffered minor damage in an incident during initial climb near Bogota. It was flown under rules the NTSB did not record. No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
Failure of the low pressure turbine stage 3 disk due to a design that is vulnerable to high pressure turbine unbalance-induced synchronous vibration that cannot be detected in flight, and the subsequent uncontained engine failure.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made November 2, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 26, 2009 · about 6:15 am local time · cases in 2009
- Place
- Bogota, Colombia
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- not recorded
- Aircraft
- Mcdonnell-Douglas DC-10-30
- Registration
- N526MD · registry record · serial 46998
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight · rules the NTSB did not record
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane experienced an uncontained No. 2 engine failure during climb out after takeoff, and an uneventful landing was accomplished. A post-incident airplane inspection found that the No. 2 engine low pressure turbine (LPT) case had separated circumferentially in plane with the LPT stage 3 (S3) turbine and that all components aft of the separation were liberated. The engine's LPT S3 disk front spacer arm was fractured circumferentially at the spacer to disk rim fillet. Metallurgical examination of the fracture surfaces revealed high cycle, high-amplitude fatigue (HAF) cracks initiating from sites around 90 percent of the forward spacer arm inner diameter. Inspection of the high pressure turbine (HPT) found that one stage 1 (S1) blade was missing approximately 85 percent of its airfoil material. The investigation found that the HPT blade damage resulted in synchronous vibration forces that interacted with the engine LPT rotor system through a common bearing support and excited a bladed-disk mode response in the LPT S3 disk. The resonant amplitude of the alternating stress experienced by the disk resulted in bending loads that exceeded the material endurance limit and caused high cycle/high amplitude fatigue cracks to initiate along the LPT S3 disk forward spacer arm rim diameter. Once initiated, the cracks propagated rapidly through the spacer arm thickness and the individual cracks joined to form a single circumferential crack, resulting in the separation of the disk at the forward spacer arm. The freed aft portion of the LPT rotor accelerated and penetrated the engine case, releasing high-energy debris as disk fragments and all of the engine components aft of the LPT S3 nozzles were liberated.
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
What happened, in order
- Uncontained engine failure during initial climb defining event
The NTSB's findings
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant › Engine (turbine/turboprop) › Turbine section › Failure other cases naming the engine
- cause Aircraft › Aircraft power plant › Engine (turbine/turboprop) › Turbine section › Design other cases naming the engine
The aircraft
- Seats: 345
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: General Electric CF6-50 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: General Electric CF6-50 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Engine 3: General Electric CF6-50 (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Flight plan: not recorded
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 3 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The NTSB has not released the docket for this case yet. The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), is usually released when the investigation is nearly complete, and the list here is refreshed when it appears. Check at the NTSB.
Connections how this case links to the rest of the register
- N526MD on the register today · the tail number may have moved to another aircraft since
- Mcdonnell-Douglas 5 aircraft on the register
- Engine: General Electric CF6-50 238 aircraft carry this series today · as the NTSB recorded it
- Engine: General Electric CF6-50 238 aircraft carry this series today · as the NTSB recorded it
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/accident/ENG09IA004.json.
The bigger picture in Aviation Analytics: accidents over time since 1982, by model, by phase of flight and conditions, by place and on the map.
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 does not name anyone involved, its policy at this time. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.