Originally Posted by
megan
.....The biggest fracas I ever saw was a pilot came back with an aircraft that failed the trend by a monumental margin, engineers decided a ground run was in order and during the check the engine self destructed big time....
Oh yeah, I remember that one well. I was the bunny who wrote the in-flight trend check numbers down that day (which was the SOP in that operation, outbound leg of first flight of the day the power trend check was done and recorded). When
megan says failed the trend by a monumental margin, he's not exaggerating. The engine went from something like a +5 on trend the previous day to a -20 on that flight. Bunny hopped out on arrival back at base, engineer hopped in, started the hover power check. Kaboom. Engine exploded (an Allison 250-C30). From memory there was a video of all the excitement taken from the heliport tower showing the helicopter emerging from a cloud of blue smoke . What was left of that engine was written off.