Engine failure – Jabiru, Northern Territory, on 11 February 2008, VH-VAZ, Beech Aircraft 1900

On 11 February 2008, at about 0720 Central Standard Time, following take-off from runway 27 at Jabiru Airport, NT, a Beech Aircraft Corporation 1900D, registered VH-VAZ, sustained an auto-feather of the left propeller and subsequent left engine failure.

The aircraft was being operated on a charter flight to Darwin with two pilots and a passenger on board. The pilots reported that, following the engine failure, they completed a single-engine circuit and landing at Jabiru. Subsequent examination of the left engine revealed catastrophic internal damage to the power section of the engine. The initiator of the damage was the release of a power turbine second-stage blade. Metallurgical examination determined that the failure of the second-stage turbine blade had occurred as a consequence of the initiation and growth of a high-cycle fatigue cracking mechanism from the downstream trailing corner of the blade fir-tree root post. At the time of blade fracture, approximately 25% of the root cross-section had been compromised by fatigue cracking.

The investigation found that during the most recent overhaul of the engine, the overhaul facility did not comply with the engine manufacturer's service bulletin regarding second-stage turbine blade replacement. Consequently, outdated blades were installed.