But without that fan assembly, they have been unable to determine why the disk broke. Investigators believe the engine blew apart because of a rupture in a 300-pound titanium fan disk that spins 38 blades. Missing in the wreckage were many parts of the tail engine, including the critical pieces that should indicate why it exploded. The pilots struggled successfully to guide the crippled plane on a dramatic 42-minute spiral to the Sioux City airport, where it cartwheeled and then burst into flames, killing 112 people 184 survived. "I was just shocked to find it." The crash occurred after the plane's tail-mounted engine exploded 37,000 feet above northwest Iowa, spewing shrapnel that severed the jumbo jet's control lines. I put it in reverse and I could see some of the aluminum blades protruding from the ground," said Sorenson, who lives on a 460-acre farm about 11 miles northwest of Alta, Iowa. "I felt a resistance against the combine. "I knew immediately that's what they were looking for," said Janice Sorenson, who found the bent and broken pieces partially buried in the ground and shadowed by 10-foot cornstalks as she was driving across her field Tuesday afternoon. GE offered $279,100 in rewards to spur the search for the pieces. "This is the most significant development to date for us in trying to piece together what happened," said Karen Purdy, a spokeswoman for General Electric, which made the DC-10 engine that exploded. An Iowa farmer harvesting corn has found key jet engine pieces that are expected to solve the mystery of why United Airlines Flight 232 crashed in Sioux City in July, investigators said yesterday.
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