Chicago, 1979. American 191. That's exactly what happened.
Not quite. It had help from maintenance crews in Tulsa that were servicing engines by using a fork-lift to remove them from the pylons instead of the Boeing-recommended method. They ended up cracking the pylons in numerous DC-10's, which would have shared the same fate as 191 if the fleet was not entirely grounded for intensive inspections.
hardly. the hardpoint was cracked due to improper installation of the engine, specifically forbidden in the manuals. not at all like 587.
"nah, the engines just fell off by themselves ... happens all the time ... [/sarcasm]
Chicago, 1979. American 191. That's exactly what happened."
Well, that't not what happened. It was only one engine. There was a prima facia cause of the single engine separation due to a crack in the pylon caused by a poor maintenance procedure. At that point the plane was still able to RTA, but then this plane had a stall caused by loss of hydraulics in the damaged wing (and other things), which STILL could have been saved had the pilot not reduced speed.
But the verticle stab stayed with the plane.