Arrow Airlines 879 was a regularly scheduled flight operated by Arrow Airlines Co. The flight which departed Zankburg International Airport en route to Rufus County International Airport. At approximately 7:30 AM, the Flight declared an emergency. An investigation into the incident is underway, but two teenagers have been identified as 18 Year Old Nick Woodward and 17 Year Old Mason Warren. The two were killed upon the explosion of one of the aircraft's engines.
History[]
On November 12, 2021 at approximately 5:45 AM, Arrow Airlines Flight 879 took off from Zankburg International Airport with non-stop service to Rufus County International Airport. At approximately 6:20 AM, the Aircraft reached its cruise altitude of 38,000 ft, where it remained in steady flight until about 7:30 AM. At this time, a loud bang was heard by the Flight Deck Crew. Immediately after hearing the audible explosion, audible alarms began sounding in the cockpit. A flight attendant accessed the cockpit notifying the pilots that two teens were dead following the explosion.
Preliminary Reports and Findings[]
On November 12, 2021, after hypothesising a potential cause of the uncontained Engine Explosion which killed 2 teenagers aboard the flight, was initially chalked up to metal fatigue. On December 3, 2021, it became abundantly clear that all fan blades were in decent shape, which ruled out engine blade fatigue. As of now, JASA and the U.S NTSB are investigating the incident rigorously, to ensure the root cause of the incident, and to provide closure to the Woodward and Warren family.
Possible Engine Blade Fatigue[]
The first potential cause, investigators generally look at in any uncontained engine failure, is metal fatigue in the engine, its fanblades or any other engine component subject to high stress, pressure and cracking. The fan blades which were recovered in the back of the engines appeared to investigators to be the root cause. This is later ruled out as the cause of the accident, as the engine blades were intact apart from secondary impact fractures, which will only occur if the engine blades aren't blown out by another, fatigued fan blade.
Possible Failure Of The Combustion Chamber[]
Investigators are now looking into the possibility that the Engine's Combustion chamber, may have caused the accident and killed the two teenage passengers. Investigators are currently looking into this to see if this may be another leading cause.
Findings/Final Report[]
On June 15, 2024, the Jesstopian Aviation Safety Administration determined that the cause of the accident was from a fractured engine blade that had gone unnoticed since 2018. The fracture was a ticking time bomb, and Flight 879 was the flight that the engine blade could no longer hold on. As a result of the fatal incident, the JASA required a bi-annual inspection of all engine blades of the airline fleets and all airplanes operated around the country.