On November 3, 1973, the aircraft involved, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 with the tail number N60NA (as Barbara), experienced an uncontained engine failure, causing significant damage to the plane.

[3] The flight crew initiated an emergency descent, and the aircraft landed safely at Albuquerque International Sunport nineteen minutes after the engine failed.

The plane was returned to service with National Airlines after repairs (being renamed Suzanne) and was later flown by Pan Am (as Clipper Meteor).

[4] Of the 116 passengers on board, twenty-four people were treated by medical personnel from nearby Kirtland Air Force Base for smoke inhalation, ear problems and minor abrasions.

One passenger[5] was partially blown into the opening made by the failed cabin window, after it too was struck by engine fragments.

"[6] The New Mexico State Police and local organizations searched extensively for the missing passenger, George F. Gardner of Beaumont, Texas,[7] who was blown out of the window.

[8] The engine had been taken off the aircraft for repairs, and between the time it was replaced and the accident, a further twenty-six faults had been reported by the flight crew.

The crew then manually reset the throttles to the normal cruising power before the flight engineer had closed the tachometer circuit breakers.

It was considered whether the crew had accidentally over-sped the engine when setting power without the tachometers, but there was insufficient evidence to deliver a certain verdict.