Revisiting Aloha Airline Flight 243: Corrosion Engineer’s Stand point

Mr. Nauman Hashmi

Presented by :

 Salman Syafar Ramzy (123.13.006)

 Gilang Yanuar Rachman (123.13.010)

Teknik Metalurgi dan Material
Institut Teknologi dan Sains Bandung
• Introduction
• Damage of Fuselage of Aloha Airlines
Flight 243
• Investigation
OUTLINE
• Conclusion
• Reference
INTRODUCTION
• First Flight: March 28, 1969
• Material of fuselage: Al 2024
K Ketinggian 24.000 kaki
Kecepatan 600 km/jam
Lepasnya bodi bagian atas
R Mengalami dekompresi eksplosif

O
N Tujuan

O
Keberangkatan
L Mendarat Darurat
O
G • 28 April 1988
Aloha Airlines Boeing 737-297
I
•
• 89 Penumpang & 6 Crew
• 1 meninggal ; 65 luka-luka
DAMAGE OF FUSELAGE

A major portion of upper crown skin and structure separated in flight

causing an explosive decompression of the cabin.
VIDEO
PROBLEM DETAIL
• There are a longitudinal fuselage
crack (the crack was in the upper row
of rivets along the stringer S-10L lap
joint, about halfway between the
cabin door and the jet bridge hood)
before take-off.
• The primary damage to the airplane
consisted of the total separation and
loss of a major portion of the upper
crown skin and other fuselage
structure.
• The damaged area extended from a
little aft of the main cabin entrance
door aft for about 18 feet.
Source: National Transportation Safety Board, 1989
PROBLEM DETAIL
Lap Joint Design
• Adjacent fuselage panels are joined longitudinally by
overlapping the edge of the skin of the upper panel
about three inches over the edge of the skin of the
lower panel (the "lap splice").
• On the early 737s (up to line number 291), the
overlapping skins were bonded together with an
adhesive and were fastened with three rows of rivets.
The fuselage pressurization (hoop) loads were intended
to be transferred through the adhesive bond, rather
than through the rivets.
• This design used a cold bond adhesive. The cold bond
process had manufacturing difficulties. These difficulties
led to the random appearance of bonds with degraded
adhesion, with susceptibility to corrosion, and with
some areas that did not bond at all. Disbonded areas
were then subject to in-service corrosion due to
moisture wicking, which leads to further disbonding.
Widespread Fatigue Damage (WFD)
• Once disbonding of the lap splice occurs, the fuselage
pressurization loads that were intended to be transferred
by the adhesive bond are instead transferred by the
rivets. Since the countersink for the rivet head went
through the entire thickness of the upper skin (creating a
knife edge), a higher than typical stress concentration
resulted.
• The combination of effects from the high stress
concentration, the rivet load transfer and the far field
stress levels led to the development of fatigue cracks at
many adjacent or neighboring rivet locations [Multi-Site
Damage (MSD)]. An insidious feature of MSD is that
many small, hard-to-detect cracks can link up rather
suddenly to form a long, critical crack. The advanced
stages of MSD, which occurred on this airplane, can
result in Widespread Fatigue Damage (WFD), a condition
where the airplane structure is no longer able to sustain
the required residual strength loads.
PROBLEM DETAIL
• As per (Vargel, 2004, p. 113), Aluminum
A mechanism of localized pitting corrosion in Al Alloy
is prone to localized or pitting corrosion
in near neutral environment. Pitting
corrosion occurs when the metal is put
into permanent or intermittent contact
with aqueous media. Experience shows
that pitting corrosion occurs during first
week of exposure. Pitting corrosion is
known to be developed with Chloride
ions. The operating environment of
Aloha airline flight 243 had a pretty
higher concentration of salinity. The high
content of salinity means higher
concentration of chloride ions making it
more susceptible for corrosion.
FAILURE ANALYSIS
• Menentukan penyebab kegagalan secara sistematis
• Memberikan rekomendasi perencanaan desain &
kontruksi, Inspection, Maintenance, dan Repair (IMR)

1. Investigasi Lapangan: observasi,

visual inspection, wawancara,
fotografi.
2. Melakukan uji aspek metalurgi:
Fraktrografi, spektrofotometer,
metalografi, uji mekanik.
3. Melakukan analisis beban dan
tegangan.
4. Mempelajari aspek desain,
operasi, dan inspeksi terkini.
 5. Melakukan analisis mendalam dan
komprehensif terhadap data yang
diperoleh.
6. Mempersiapkan laporan berisi:
• Fakta, evidence, interpretasi & analisis
• Mekanisme kerusakan
• Penyebabnya kegagalan
• Kesimpulan dan rekomendasi

Rekomendasi:
Perubahan Struktur

Source: National Transportation Safety Board, 1989

CONCLUSION
• The failure of Aloha airline is primarily a material one involing pitting corrosion
and fatigue.
• It was resulted first due to formation of pits on fuselage skin. These pits under an
aggressive corrosion environment intensified the fatigue crack growth.
• Those cracks first caused the cold lap joint at body stations to become disbanded,
putting all the loads on rivets, which further cracked rivet holes. The cracks
around rivet holes joined up over time and once reached critical length resulted
in catastrophic failure.
REFERENCE
• Hashmi, Nauman. “Revisiting Aloha Airlines 243: Corrosion Engineer’s
Stand Point”.
• http://lessonslearned.faa.gov/ll_main.cfm?TabID=4&LLID=20&LLTypeI
D=2