A McDonnell Douglas MD-88 operating as Delta Air Lines Flight 1288 experiences a turbine engine failure during takeoff from Pensacola International Airport, killing two and injuring five of the 147 people on board.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second generation of the DC-9 family, originally designated as the DC-9-80 and later stylized as the DC-9 Super 80 . Stretched, enlarged wing and powered by higher bypass Pratt & Whitney JT8D-200 engines, the aircraft program was launched in October 1977. The MD-80 made its first flight on October 18, 1979, and was certified on August 25, 1980. The first airliner was delivered to launch customer Swissair on September 13, 1980, which introduced it into service on October 10, 1980.

Delta Air Lines Flight 1288 was a regularly scheduled flight from Pensacola, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia. On July 6, 1996, the aircraft serving the flight, a McDonnell Douglas MD-88, was on takeoff roll from Runway 17 at Pensacola when it experienced an uncontained, catastrophic turbine engine failure that caused debris from the front compressor hub of the left engine to penetrate the left aft fuselage, killing 2 passengers. The cause of the engine failure was found to have been a fault in the manufacture of the fan. The failure of the airline to spot the resulting crack in the blade was a contributing factor.

A turbine engine failure occurs when a gas turbine engine unexpectedly stops producing power due to a malfunction other than fuel exhaustion. It often applies for aircraft, but other turbine engines can also fail, such as ground-based turbines used in power plants or combined diesel and gas vessels and vehicles.

Pensacola International Airport, formerly Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport and Pensacola Regional Airport, and temporarily branded Pensacola Intergalactic Airport each February in recognition of the local Pensacon convention, is a public use airport three nautical miles northeast of the central business district of Pensacola, in Escambia County, Florida, United States. It is owned by the City of Pensacola. Despite its name, the airport does not offer scheduled international flights, though chartered international flights are not uncommon. This airport is one of five major airports in North Florida, and among these is the second largest by passenger count, only behind Jacksonville. The other four airports in North Florida are: Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport, Tallahassee International Airport, and Jacksonville International Airport.