Missing Parts Land In Minnesota

A Northwest Airlines Boeing DC-10 headed from Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, to Honolulu, HI, landed safely Saturday -- without a reverse-thrust nozzle that apparently fell off the aircraft shortly after it departed. The part landed in a field not far from the airport, prompting a search for the aircraft and a cry of alarm from nearby residents.

As ANN reported on Monday, local law officers at first believed the missing part came from a Boeing 747. The nozzle, weighing approximately 200 pounds, was reported by an anonymous caller at about 0345 Saturday morning.

The crew of the NWA DC-10 didn't notice the part was missing until after they landed in Hawaii, according to the Pioneer-Press newspaper.

"It is a very unusual event,'' said FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Corey in an interview with the Pioneer-Press. "In all these situations, we look into what happened and why."

Corey said the investigation will probably take a few weeks. Once the findings are compiled, Northwest could be fined if any maintenance issues turn up in the probe.

"All I can tell you is that we are cooperating with the FAA investigation,'' said NWA spokeswoman Mary Stanik when questioned by the paper.

Like many of Northwest's DC-10s (file photo of type, below), the aircraft in question was reportedly maintained in Singapore, according to local mechanics' union President Ted Ludwig.

"We have not overhauled our DC-10s in years," said local union President Ted Ludwig. "We don't do anything to them any more.... I can't say outsourcing caused this. But I can say that we don't maintain these aircraft."

FMI: www.nwa.com