Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501
Boeing 737-275 · Fire on the ground caused by uncontained engine failure on takeoff
From Calgary International Airport (YYC) to Edmonton International Airport (YEG)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 119
- Survivors
- 119
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 27
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Boeing 737-275
- Flight
- PW501
- Aircraft type
- Boeing 737
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- C-GQPW
- Operator
- Pacific Western Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From Calgary International Airport (YYC)To Edmonton International Airport (YEG)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501 was a regularly scheduled flight from Calgary to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The Boeing 737-200 caught fire during takeoff on March 22, 1984. All 119 passengers and crew members survived, but five people suffered serious injuries while 22 others suffered minor injuries.
Accident
Flight 501 began taxing from the gate at Calgary International Airport at 7:35 AM and proceeded to take off on runway 34, carrying five crew members and 114 passengers. At 7:42 AM, a loud popping sound was heard 20 seconds into the takeoff run. The aircraft began to vibrate and veer to the left, and a fire broke out in the rear of the aircraft. The pilot, Stan Fleming, managed to abort the take-off.
An emergency evacuation was ordered as the fire spread throughout the aircraft. Five people were seriously injured and 22 suffered minor injuries, but no one was killed. The aircraft was destroyed by the fire.
Investigation and cause
Cause
The Canadian Aviation Safety Board (CASB) determined that an uncontained failure of the left engine thirteenth stage compressor disc had occurred. Debris from the engine punctured a fuel cell, resulting in the fire. The disc failure was the result of fatigue cracking. This incident was similar to the cause of the British Airtours Flight 28M disaster that claimed 55 lives the following year on August 22, 1985.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501” (revision 1364270343, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501
- Revision
- 1364270343 · 2026-07-15 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q7122768
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501" (page 2375425, revision 1364270343)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- airline flight number in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.