Southwest Airlines 604

[Sako]

I have witnessed a turbine engine coming apart firsthand. While attending air frame and engine school in KC my class was running up a timed out engine which TWA had donated to the school. I was standing fire guard by the fuel tank and the rest of the class was inside the hangar with the wall and a piece of half inch steel plate between them and the engine. They weren't supposed to go past 80% rpm, but i guess even that was too much that day. I saw the case swell and the thought "well that's it for me" went through my mind".

Got lucky again that day. A large piece hit me in the chest and knocked me flat and the rest of it went over the top. Got a broken bone in my hand out of it, split down the center from knuckle to wrist.

We found pieces of that engine on the other side of the airport.

Wowzer , you suffered a lot of pain over that and it will probably give you problems all your life but it is a little bit cool to have seen it up so close.