Mcdonnell Douglas MD-10-30F incident near Portland, Oregon, February 13, 2012
On February 13, 2012 at about 8:00 pm local time, a Mcdonnell Douglas MD-10-30F, registered N304FE, suffered minor damage in an incident during takeoff near Portland, Oregon (Portland Intl Jetport airport). It was flown under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). The NTSB record does not give the injuries. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The fracture of the fan mid shaft due to a stress corrosion cracking initiated by local regions of corrosion pitting, which resulted from oil migration within the shaft and its subsequent degradation.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 13, 2012 · about 8:00 pm local time
- Place
- Portland, Oregon · Portland Intl Jetport · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- The NTSB record does not give the injuries.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Mcdonnell Douglas MD-10-30F · all MD-10-30Fs on the register
- Registration
- N304FE · registry record · serial 46992
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
On February 13, 2012, a FedEx McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) MD10-30, registration number N304FE, equipped with three General Electric (GE) CF6-50 turbofans engines, performed a rejected take-off due to a failure of the No. 1 (left) engine. No injuries were reported. The incident flight was a regularly scheduled domestic cargo flight, operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 121, from Portland to Oakland, California. Examination of the airplane revealed no damage or penetration of the cowlings and no damage to the airplane; however, examination of the engine revealed three penetration holes and tears in low pressure turbine case and a single hole located in the turbine rear frame. Disassembly of the incident engine found that the fan mid shaft had fractured and the aft section of the fan mid shaft exhibited a spiral crack angled 45° to the longitudinal axis that measured about 69.5-inches in total length (about 3½ revolutions around the shaft) and extended about 20.5-inches axially in length. Metallurgical examination of the fan mid shaft found that it had fractured entirely in an intergranular mode. The initiation of the spiral fracture was comprised of numerous discolored, thumbnail shaped cracks initiating from the inner diameter surface of the fan mid shaft, some of which had progressed through the fan mid shaft thickness. The morphology of the cracks was consistent with a stress corrosion cracking mechanisms typical of high strength steel such as the fan mid shaft parent material. Localized areas of corrosion pitting, scaling, and loss of the anti-corrosion coating were observed throughout the inner diameter of the fan mid shaft. Examination of the debris within the shaft identified it as an ester based engine oil residue, typical of the kind of oil used in turbine engines. The stress corrosion cracking observed on the fan mid shaft was caused primarily due to the breakdown of a synthetic oil product inside the FMS during both storage and engine operation. The exact source or mechanism by which the oil entered the dry cavity between the fan mid shaft and the center vent tube is unknown.
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 takeoff defining event
- Powerplant sys/comp malf/fail during takeoff
- Fire/smoke (non-impact) during takeoff
- Engine shutdown during takeoff
The NTSB's findings
- cause Personnel issues › Action/decision › Action › Incorrect action performance › Maintenance personnel
- cause Personnel issues › Task performance › Maintenance › Installation › Maintenance personnel
- factor Aircraft › Aircraft power plant › Engine (turbine/turboprop) › (general) › Related maintenance info
The aircraft
- Seats: 385
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Ge CF6-50C2 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Federal Express Corporation
The flight
- Departed from: PDX Portland OR
- Destination: OAK Oakland CA
- Flight plan: IFR
Weather at the time
- Light: not reported
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
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 ENG12IA012.