Engine failure, 259 km south-south-east of Broome, Western Australia, on 24 May 2007, VH-IWO, Raytheon Beechcraft B200 King Air

A Raytheon Beech King Air aircraft, registration VH-IWO, was cruising at FL290 on an aero-medical flight from Newman to Fitzroy Crossing, WA with the pilot, a flight nurse and a doctor on board. When approximately 140 NM (259 km) south-south-east of Broome, the right engine inter-turbine temperature indication (ITT) was observed by the pilot to rise without any engine control input. The ITT rise was accompanied by a slight fluctuation in a number of associated engine indications. The pilot reduced power on the right engine.

Shortly after the power reduction, there was a slight right engine surge, with an accompanying rise in ITT. The pilot observed smoke coming from the right engine exhaust. The pilot shut down and secured the right engine and, after briefing the flight nurse and doctor, diverted to Broome Airport where a single-engine landing was completed.

Examination of the right engine revealed extensive damage caused by the separation of one of the compressor turbine blades at mid span.

As a result of this occurrence, the engine manufacturer has modified the alerting feature in the case of the interruption of the supply of electronic trend monitoring (ECTM) information to customers from its automated ECTM program.