Preliminary Report: CRJ loses thrust reverser cowling

Bombardier CL600-2B19 CRJ, Lake Michigan, Mich., April 7, 2007–The Mesa Airlines CRJ was substantially damaged when the thrust reverser translating cowling broke off the left engine during cruise and struck the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. The captain told the NTSB that at 16,000 feet msl, about 35 miles west of its departure airport, Grand Rapids Gerald R. Ford International Airport, he heard a “loud bang” and the “aircraft pitched and yawed/rolled to [the] left.” He continued to the intended destination, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, because the airplane seemed to be handling normally. None of the four people on board–two pilots, one flight attendant and one passenger–was injured.