B737-800 looses part of vertical stab

[Romeo E.T.]

https://www.airlive.net/alert-swift-air ... tabilizer/

Check the damaged horizontal stab where portions of the vertical stab struck it

And according to reports the crew were not even aware of it !

[Romeo E.T.]

[Snitch]

On the ground

[dr727]

Accident: iAero B738 enroute on May 19th 2020, dropped parts of vertical tail
By Simon Hradecky, created Thursday, May 21st 2020 20:21Z, last updated Thursday, May 21st 2020 20:26Z

An iAero Boeing 737-800, registration N820TJ performing flight WQ-3518 from Victorville,CA to San Diego,CA (USA), departed Victorville's runway 17 and completed the seemingly uneventful flight with a safe landing on San Diego's runway 27 about 41 minutes after departure. Following landing it was discovered parts had come off the vertical tail's leading edge as well as left side in flight.

The aircraft is still on the ground in San Diego about 45 hours after landing.

[GL]

I guess somebody forget to put the fasteners in post maintenance - and then it wasn't checked. Shades of the ATR anti icing boots and leading edges?

[HAAN]

It can also be as a result of a birdstrike or metal fatigue but yes maintenence always comes first to mind. Luckily the dorsalfin thats missing would not be a big issue as its more for stability of an aircraft during a engine failure during take-off. (Making the tail area bigger for control rather extended it taller) Im more worried about the piece that broke off and hit the leading elevators, could have jammed or damaged it severely. Other than that the crew probably would not even have noticed it on such a short sector.

[ddevos]

I was just wondering, seeing that Victorville is home to a major logistics facility, what are the chances of someone being busy removing the dorsal fin from the wrong aircraft?

[trees]

That was my thought as well. But I dint think so, the aircraft was only on the ground in VCV for an hour.

[Christopher]

Quote: <<N820TJ Boeing 737-8Q8 operating as Swift Air/iAero Airways SWQ3518 landing KSAN runway 27 on 19 May 2020. I would have discarded this photo except for the tail. Evidently it is airworthy. #avgeek #planespotting>>

Fly-able: yes; but...airworthy? I don't think so!

[wingnutzster]

I guess somebody forget to put the fasteners in post maintenance - and then it wasn't checked. Shades of the ATR anti icing boots and leading edges?

Or the Embraer 120 Flight 2574 that crashed due to horizontal stab leading edge departing after being only partially secured with half the fasteners in maintenance? Quite staggering that this still happens although thankfully in modern airliners the most critical parts for sustaining stable flight are not simply screw-fastened

[wingnutzster]

Looking at the structure, there are at least 9 formers all attached at the roots to the fuselage former stations - surely only one or two were loose forward causing enough stress in flight to cause all 9 attachment points to give way?!

Screen Shot 2020-06-11 at 14.28.25.png

Screen Shot 2020-06-11 at 14.32.50.png

[biffvj]

Looks like the horizontal leading edge also has some damage, quite a distance from the vertical

[RiNCEw1ND]

Looking at the structure, there are at least 9 formers all attached at the roots to the fuselage former stations - surely only one or two were loose forward causing enough stress in flight to cause all 9 attachment points to give way?!

Screen Shot 2020-06-11 at 14.28.25.pngScreen Shot 2020-06-11 at 14.32.50.png

Boeing calls the missing piece forward of the vertical stabilizer the dorsal fin.

The formers of the dorsal fin do not attach to any fuselage structure. The dorsal fin is a separate assembly with a seal at its bottom edge and is bolted to the fuselage from the inside through the upper fuselage structure using 14 bolts.

[wingnutzster]

Looking at the structure, there are at least 9 formers all attached at the roots to the fuselage former stations - surely only one or two were loose forward causing enough stress in flight to cause all 9 attachment points to give way?!

Screen Shot 2020-06-11 at 14.28.25.pngScreen Shot 2020-06-11 at 14.32.50.png

Boeing calls the missing piece forward of the vertical stabilizer the dorsal fin.

The formers of the dorsal fin do not attach to any fuselage structure. The dorsal fin is a separate assembly with a seal at its bottom edge and is bolted to the fuselage from the inside through the upper fuselage structure using 14 bolts.

By "attached" I meant bolted/fastened sorry, so there's 14 bolts? My point was how do 14 fastened (attached) points fail at once?

[RiNCEw1ND]

Looking at the structure, there are at least 9 formers all attached at the roots to the fuselage former stations - surely only one or two were loose forward causing enough stress in flight to cause all 9 attachment points to give way?!

Screen Shot 2020-06-11 at 14.28.25.pngScreen Shot 2020-06-11 at 14.32.50.png

Boeing calls the missing piece forward of the vertical stabilizer the dorsal fin.

The formers of the dorsal fin do not attach to any fuselage structure. The dorsal fin is a separate assembly with a seal at its bottom edge and is bolted to the fuselage from the inside through the upper fuselage structure using 14 bolts.

By "attached" I meant bolted/fastened sorry, so there's 14 bolts? My point was how do 14 fastened (attached) points fail at once?

My guess is the bolts didnt fail