Boeing 727-25C incident near Colorado Sprngs, Colorado, May 8, 1998
On May 8, 1998 at about 3:30 am local time, a Boeing 727-25C, registered N116FE, suffered minor damage in an incident near Colorado Sprngs, Colorado. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
An inadvertent inflight collision with a flock of large birds.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 8, 1998 · about 3:30 am local time
- Place
- Colorado Sprngs, Colorado · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 727-25C · all 727-25Cs on the register
- Registration
- N116FE · registry record · serial 19298
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
Federal Express flight 1287 departed Colorado Springs, en route to Memphis, Tennessee. When the airplane was north of the airport and passing 8,500 feet msl, it struck a flock of large white birds, causing an uncontained no. 3 engine failure. There was also a loss of essential electrical power. The captain declared an emergency, returned to the Colorado Springs Airport, and made an uneventful landing. In addition to minor damage to the right side of the fuselage, visual inspection of the engine disclosed bird remains in and around the no. 3 engine. The outboard 4 inches of the first stage compressor blade separated, damaging the first and second stage compressor blades, stator blades, and inlet guide vanes. Shrapnel was ejected through the engine case at the 12 o'clock position, severing the no. 3 electrical bus wire bundle and puncturing the engine inlet anti-ice bleed air duct. The nose and upper engine cowling and thrust reverser were also damaged. The constant speed drive oil cooler was partially separated due to engine vibrations.
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, flight engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,051 hours in all; 2,386 in this make and model; 34 in the last 90 days; 9 in the last 30 days; 638 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 63,119 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, March 5, 1998
- Maximum gross weight: 169,500 lb
- Seats: 5
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT8D-7BQN (turbojet); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: COS at 3:20 am
- Destination: MEM Memphis TN
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 360° at 9 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 10,000 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 45°F (7°C), dew point 39°F (4°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 3:58 am from COS
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.