BA jet had ‘multiple breaches’ in engine casing

The US’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the casing around a key component of the engine had been found to have “multiple” breaches.

Dr. Brown said the investigators would examine the parts found on the runway for signs of fatigue while the possibility of something going into the engine would be considered by looking for marks on its front fan.

Don Knutson, an aircraft accident investigator in Wichita, Kansas, said mechanical failure, parts fatigue or the ingestion of debris all could have created the failure.

September 11-The British Airways 777 that caught fire Tuesday as it was about to take off in Las Vegas suffered an uncontained engine failure, a rare and very serious rupture of the protective pod around the engine.

Las Vegas airport released a statement, which said it was first alerted to the emergency at 4.13pm local time (12.13 am BST), within five minutes, everyone was off the plane, and the blaze had been extinguished. The plane’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders will now be analyzed, with a final report not expected for several months.

It forced the evacuation of 159 passengers and 13 crew.

The veteran British Airways pilot hailed a “hero” for saving the lives of passengers on a burning plane bound for London was only one flight away from retiring.

“Initial examination of the airplane by NTSB revealed that the left engine and pylon, left fuselage structure and inboard left wing airplane were substantially damaged by the fire”. If something fails during intake, it could lead to compression failure. In the following moments, he saw dark black smoke and says that he alerted BA staff telling them that passengers must be evacuated because of the fire.

“Mayday, mayday, Speedbird 2276 request fire services”, he said.

“Halon breaks down the chemistry of the fire and smothers the fire”, Cox said.

The incident occurred as the Boeing 777 heading from McCarran airport in Las Vegas to London Gatwick was preparing to take-off. It initiated takeoff less than three hours later.

GE90 engines are the largest and most powerful jet engines in aviation history and exclusively power the 777, which has the best safety record of any of Boeing’s jets.

Parties to the NTSB investigation are the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), The Boeing Company, and GE Aviation.

“Our engineers are inspecting the aircraft to determine what the issue was”.

British Airways said investigators will soon be seeking to discover the cause of the fire.

Chris Henkey, who brought the plane to a halt and ordered the evacuation, told United States media he had been due to make one more flight before retiring – to join his daughter in Barbados, his favorite holiday destination.

Ho reported from Phoenix.