scope:

Description of Driving Event:

On 11-12-92, research runs were being conducted in the unitary wind tunnel. During one test run, the downstream wood fairing on the model side mount splitter plate came loose and was destroyed as it went down the tunnel. The tunnel was not damaged, however, there was damage to some instrumentation tubing as well as lost research time. Although damage was relatively minor, this failure is significant because it was preventable.

Subsequent investigation of the cause of the failure showed that not all of the required fasteners had been installed in the wood fairing, thus causing it to fail. In spite of the fact that the model was inspected more than once prior to the research runs being made, none of the inspectors noticed the missing fasteners. These inspection oversights ultimately led to model failure as well as the failure of the test being run.

The damaged instrumentation tubing was replaced. A new wood fairing, this time secured by all required fasteners, was made by the LaRC model shop.