Northwest Airlines Flight 5 (1990)

For the 1941 flight that crashed in Minnesota, see Northwest Airlines Flight 5 (1941).

Northwest Airlines Flight 5 was an internal flight from Miami International Airport to Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport. On January 4, 1990, the Boeing 727-251 (registered N280US) had an engine failure in the third engine while flying over Madison, Florida.

Northwest Airlines Flight 5

The aircraft involved in the incident
Incident summary
Date	January 4, 1990
Summary	In-flight engine failure and subsequent loss of the engine
Place	near Madison, Florida, United States 30°38′N 83°24′W
Passengers	139
Crew	6
Injuries (non-fatal)	0
Fatalities	0
Survivors	145
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-251
Airline/user	Northwest Airlines
Registration	N280US
Flew from	Miami International Airport
Flying to	Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Boeing 727-251 with registration N280US. The aircraft was 14 years old at the time of the incident. The aircraft was operated by Northwest Airlines.

Flight

On January 4, 1990, at 8:15 EST, the aircraft took off from Miami. At 9:10 , the pilots heard a loud bang. The pilots did not know that an engine fell off the aircraft. The aircraft flew for 50 minutes before emergency landing at Tampa International Airport.

After looking, it was found that the lavatory seal was missing. This made lavatory fluid freeze, and fall into the third engine. The engine fell off after being damaged. The engine was designed this way.