Failure analyses of various engine and airframe components from South African Air Force aircraft have been performed by the Division of Materials Science and Technology over several years and these have ranged from crash investigations to minor problems encountered during routine maintenance. The examples discussed in this paper are: foreign object damage to compressor blades, collapse of a landing gear strut, premature degradation of nozzle guide vanes and failure of a first stage reduction gear carrier assembly. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.