Boeing 727-225 incident near Sarasota, Florida, December 6, 1982
On December 6, 1982 at about 10:09 pm local time, a Boeing 727-225, registered N8871Z, suffered minor damage in an incident near Sarasota, Florida (Sarasota-Bradenton airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 21 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 6, 1982 · about 10:09 pm local time
- Place
- Sarasota, Florida · Sarasota-Bradenton · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 21 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 727-225 · all 727-225s on the register
- Registration
- N8871Z · no longer on the register · serial 21289
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF THE NR 2 ENGINE OCCURRED DRG TKOF ROLL. TKOF WAS ABORTED AND THE AIRCRAFT WAS STOPPED ON THE RUNWAY. THERE WAS NO FIRE ALTHOUGH ENGINE PARTS PENETRATED THE ENGINE CASE AND COWLING SEVERING COIL AND HYDRAULIC LINES AND ELECTRICAL WIRES AND PENETRATED THE AFT FUSELAGE AND CAUSED FOD TO NR 3 ENGINE. ACFT WAS TAXIED TO GATE WHERE PASSENGERS DEPLANED NORMALLY. EXAMINATION OF NR 2 ENGINE REVEALED FATIGUE FAILURE OF FIRST STAGE COMPRESSOR BLADE. EVIDENCE OF PREVIOUS FOD AT FATIGUE ORIGINATION SITE.
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
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 12,100 hours in all; 6,901 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: unk
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 19,276 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded; 0 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 183,000 lb
- Seats: 153
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P & W JT8D-15 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Eastern Airlines, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: SRQ Sarasota FL at 5:09 pm
- Destination: Orlando FL
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 31, 7,003 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 210° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 5 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 2,000 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 167°F (75°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 4:46 pm from SRQ
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 7 | |||
| Passengers | 14 |
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.