Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Jetliner had engine trouble on takeoff, Continental says

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Wednesday, December 13, 2000

Jetliner had engine trouble on takeoff, Continental says
Continental MD-80 returned to Corpus Christi for an emergency landing after struggling to gain altitude
By Mary Moreno
Caller-Times
A Continental flight, carrying several Corpus Christi city officials, was forced to make an emergency landing a week ago because an engine compressor stalled, airline officials confirmed Tuesday.
   Flight 1888 was forced to abort its trip to Houston just minutes after it took off from the Corpus Christi International Airport. The MD-80 airplane had a compressor stall in one of its two engines, said Julie Gardner, a Continental spokeswoman.
   The problem with Flight 1888 was contained to a single engine and Continental officials said the plane can operate safely on one engine. A compressor stall can occur when airflow through a jet engine is disrupted.
   The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday it will not investigate the incident because there was no damage to the plane and no one was injured.
   The safety board did investigate another incident involving the same plane after an engine failed on March 16, 1999, while gaining altitude in a flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Newark, N.J. In that incident the plane was not damaged and no one was injured, but parts from a turbine were found in the tailcone of the plane, according to a report by the Federal Aviation Administration.
   On the day of the incident in Corpus Christi, several council members said the plane made loud popping noises during takeoff and the plane then struggled to gain altitude. The loud popping noises are commonly heard during compressor stalls, said Nicole Sharnon, air safety investigator with safety board.
   Gardner said Continental replaces engines whenever they malfunction, and that the engine with the stalled compressor during Flight 1888 had been replaced.
   National Transportation Safety Board reports show the MD-80 series, designed by McDonnell-Douglas, has had at least two incidents of stalled engine compressors that have resulted in formal investigations.
   One incident was in 1997, during an U.S. Airways flight out of Charlotte, N.C. Another was in 1998 during an Alaska Airlines flight from Russia.
   In the flight out of Russia the compressor stalled during takeoff. The takeoff was aborted and the plane had minor damage. Its 45 passengers were not injured. In the Charlotte flight, the compressor stalled while the plane gained altitude. The airplane was not damaged and its six passengers were not injured, according to federal reports.
   An MD-80 series plane was also involved in an Alaska Airlines crash off the California coast that killed 88 people on Jan. 31.
   That crash remains under investigation.



Staff writer Mary Moreno can be reached at 886-3774 or by e-mail at morenom@caller.com

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