The Nation - News from April 15, 1988

An engine on a Piedmont jetliner exploded into jagged pieces, ripping through both sides of the plane and forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at Charleston, W. Va. Some of the plane’s 56 passengers screamed and fainted and two flight attendants suffered bumps and bruises when the plane plunged after the explosion, Piedmont spokesman Don McGuire said. Turbine blades ripped through the right rear restroom and a work area for attendants as the plane, a Fokker F-28, cruised at 31,000 feet. “It blew a big hole in the plane,” said passenger Fred Hinton of Raleigh, N.C. “I’m 240 pounds, and it was big enough that I could crawl through it.” The plane was flying from Charlotte, N.C., to Columbus, Ohio, when its right jet turbine disintegrated.