Northwest Airlines Flight Loses Engine Mid-Flight; Lands Safely

Just under an hour into the flight, at approximately 09:10 local time while cruising over Madison, Florida, the pilots heard a loud bang towards the rear of the plane. They noted that the trijet's starboard-mounted engine had lost power. Despite this, the aircraft continued flying under the power of its two remaining turbofans for nearly 50 more minutes before making an emergency landing in Tampa at 09:58 local time. There were no injuries among passengers or crew.

Upon landing, it became evident that the aircraft hadn't just lost power to the starboard-mounted engine but rather lost the engine itself. The powerplant was located near Madison a day later.

An investigation found that an improperly installed lavatory seal near the engine caused it to ingest frozen fluid chunks inflight, damaging its blades and causing it to fail. Interestingly, according to a spokesperson for Boeing reported by the Chicago Tribune, this total separation was actually a design feature intended to ensure a clean break without taking any fuselage with it.

A similar incident occurred with an American Airlines Boeing 727 in April of 1985 during a flight from Dallas to San Diego when its engine seized over New Mexico. The crew continued to San Diego where they discovered they had lost an engine.

After its incident in January 1990, N280US remained with Northwest Airlines until December of 1995 before moving to TransMeridian Airlines and later leased briefly to Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela in 1998. That year marked the end of its career after 23 years in service.