Boeing 747-240 incident near Jamaica, New York, December 7, 1995
On December 7, 1995 at about 2:50 am local time, a Boeing 747-240, registered APBAK, suffered minor damage in an incident near Jamaica, New York (John F Kennedy Intl airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under foreign airline rules (Part 129). No one was hurt; 255 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
failure of the number two engine fan mid shaft, due a fatigue fracture caused by a previous bearing failure, and failure of the operator's maintenance personnel to detect the cracks during subsequent inspections.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 7, 1995 · about 2:50 am local time
- Place
- Jamaica, New York · John F Kennedy Intl
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 255 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 747-240 · all 747-240s on the register
- Registration
- APBAK · no longer on the register
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · foreign airline rules (Part 129)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
After takeoff, about 1,000 ft agl, the crew of the Boeing 747-240 heard a 'thudding noise,' followed by a loss of power in the number two engine. An engine shut down was completed, and an uneventful landing was made at the departure airport. The airplane was equipped with General Electric CF6-50E2 engines. Examination revealed that the low pressure turbine module, which included a portion of the fan mid shaft (FMS) and turbine rear frame, was missing. The airplane sustained damage to the left wing leading and tailing edge flaps, the left main wing landing gear doors, and the number one engine. Examination of the number two engine revealed a fracture face on the forward end of the FMS that showed multiple fatigue origins and circumferential cracks. There were also areas on the FMS that were heat affected. The FMS had previously been installed in a CF6-50 engine that had sustained a failure of the number 3 bearing inner race. The engine had been inspected by company personnel, and records did not reflect that they inspected the FMS for heat affected material. Fatigue cracks located in the heat-affected areas were found to have Sermetel paint and debris in the cracks.
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; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 15,000 hours in all; 4,000 in this make and model; 50 in the last 90 days; 32 in the last 30 days; 10,000 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Ge CF6-50E2 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Pakistan International Airline
The flight
- Departed from: JFK at 2:48 am
- Destination: Paris,France
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 260° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 2,500 ft; scat at 1,200 ft
- Temperature: 39°F (4°C), dew point 18°F (-8°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 3:50 am from JFK
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 15 | |||
| Passengers | 240 |
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.