Wreckage is laid out across a huge surface. Debris is everywhere. Paramedics, police, and fire fighters are on the scene and one thing is clear: There are no survivors. Approximately 5 minutes after the crash, the NTSB gets a call regarding the crash. In no time, investigators are on the scene, shortly after the arrival of news crews. But one piece of wreckage is not on the scene. Remember earlier I said that there was something the controllers saw that the pilots didn't? The airplane didn't just lose power in Engine 1 (left engine). They lost the entire engine. Yes, the engine fell off. The rear of the engine swung forward, and the engine detached from the wing and fell backwards. Engine 1 was not on the crash site. It was sitting on runway 32R, along with 1 meter of the wing that appeared to have been chipped off.
Investigators want to know why the engine fell off and why it was the cause of the crash. An engine failure shouldn't cause a crash in itself. Before long, the NTSB came out with a conclusion that a single bolt had caused the accident, but investigator Michael Marx, who was an expert in metals, identified the broken bolt as a result of the crash, not a cause. Fatigue would have been unlikely, as the plane had been inspected just 8 weeks early. But it was at that maintenance session that this series of fatal occurrences had started. Despite the NTSB believing it was a bolt, Michael Marx decided to go more into depth. He soon discovers that a part of the pylon has been damaged. The pylon being the part of the airplane that is attached to the wing and the engine, attaching both crucial parts together. Most investigations start with eliminating the possibility of a bomb, then continue by checking maintenance records. Maintenance records show that American Airlines replaced the bearings that attached the pylon to the wing. They go to visit the maintenance hanger to get a look for themselves, and come across everything they've been looking for. In order to replace the bearings McDonnell a Douglas instructs Airlines to remove the engine, followed by the pylon. Investigators discover American Airlines Maintenance has discovered a shortcut: They remove the pylon and engine at the same time, using a forklift to carry the weight. It appeared it hadn't gone smoothly for Flight 191. For Flight 191, the forklift wasn't positioned properly, and it would seem that when the bolt the NTSB believed to be the culprit was removed, the bottom portion of the pylon was accidentally wedged up, right into the attachment piece on the wing. A dent, resembling the exact shape was found in the wreckage of 191, proving it. It also developed cracks, explaining how the engine came off.
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Fatal Occurrences: Book One
Non-FictionFatal Occurrences is a series explaining Aircraft Disasters. Book 1 reports the fatal occurrences that took place during the flight of American Airlines Flight 191 on May 25th, 1979.
