Engine Breaks Apart as TWA Jet Takes Off

ST. LOUIS — A Trans World Airlines MD-80 airliner landed safely Friday at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport after an engine came apart on takeoff and a 2-foot piece of it narrowly missed a man on the ground.

“I heard a large explosion, and then I heard a lot of debris hitting the roof,” said Mark Erp, 29, manager of an auto body shop in Kinloch, next to the airport.

“Then, a big hunk came through the roof and hit the floor about 10 or 15 feet from me,” he said. “I had been walking that way. Needless to say, I just dived away. I didn’t know if there was more coming.”

Officials said Flight 223 to San Francisco had just taken off when passengers heard a loud pop and the pilot announced that the plane was returning to the airport. It made a routine landing and there were no injuries, TWA spokesman Don Morrison said. The 112 passengers were put on another flight.

Morrison said the engine was designed to eject loose parts to minimize problems. “We understand some pieces fell, and we’re investigating,” he said.

Erp said the engine part that fell into his shop was a metal cone about two feet long that weighed about 15 pounds. He said it ripped a 5-foot-square hole in the roof.

“We started to pick it up, but it was red hot,” he said. “It was still too hot to touch about 30 minutes later.”

Erp said TWA representatives who reclaimed the debris were at the shop only briefly. “They just took the cone and picked up some smaller pieces and left,” he said.