British Airways Flight 2276 was a scheduled passenger flight which caught fire during take-off from Las Vegas-McCarran International Airport on 8 September 2015, prompting an aborted take-off and the evacuation of all passengers and crew. The flight, bound for Gatwick Airport near London, had 157 passengers and 13 crew. The aircraft had suffered an uncontained engine failure in the left (#1) GE90 engine.[1]
The aircraft left Terminal 3, Gate E3, at 15:53 local time, and began its take-off from Runway 07L at 16:12 where the incident occurred.[2]
After noticing what the captain later described as a "catastrophic engine failure" and a "loud boom" in the left-hand engine, well before take-off speed, the flight crew aborted the take-off by using the aircraft's brakes and ordered an evacuation of the aircraft.[3] All passengers and crew escaped, with some suffering minor injuries.
The airport's emergency services extinguished the fire within five minutes of the mayday call. Fire officials said that twenty-seven people were taken to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center to be treated for minor injuries, including cuts and bruises, mostly a result of sliding down the inflatable chutes to escape.[4][5] The fire caused an opening of a large hole in the cargo hold and damage to the engine.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated the fire was caused by failure of the left General Electric GE90 engine, one of two fitted on the plane.[6] The aircraft came to a halt upwind, causing the fire to be blown towards the fuselage; the aircraft sustained localized, but major, structural damage as a result.[7][8] The aircraft was equipped with suppression systems, though the systems did not extinguish the fire.[9]
The runway, one of four, was closed for four hours, and a number of inbound flights were cancelled.[10]
Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the incident was a Boeing 777-236ER, registered as G-VIIO. The aircraft itself is about 17 years old and was delivered new to British Airways on 26 January 1999.[11]
If the aircraft is declared a hull loss, the insurers would have to absorb around £21.4m ($32.8m) to cover the aircraft and liabilities.[12]
Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the American air accident investigative body, dispatched four investigators to the site the day after.[13] As well as FAA, Boeing and General Electric involvement, the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch has a representative and that representative has appointed "British Airways and the UK Civil Aviation Authority as technical advisors". Initial NTSB findings were that an uncontained engine failure had occurred and that the "left engine and pylon, left fuselage structure and inboard left wing airplane were substantially damaged by the fire".[14]
See also
British Airtours Flight 28M, a similar, although fatal accident, which took place in 1985.
China Airlines Flight 120
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "NTSB Issues Update on the British Airways Engine Fire at Las Vegas". NTSB. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
Jump up ^ "Flight Info". FlightStats. Retrieved 9 September 2015. (Login required)
Jump up ^ "13 hospitalized after British Airways fire in Las Vegas". Fox 5 Vegas. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
Jump up ^ Phipps, Claire. "British Airways plane catches fire at Las Vegas airport". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
Jump up ^ "British Airways fire: Jet's suppression system didn't work, source says". CNN. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
Jump up ^ Alcock, Charles (8 September 2015). "Engine Failure Causes Fire on British Airways Boeing 777". AIN Online. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
Jump up ^ Waldron, Greg. "Unclear whether BA 777 engine failure was contained". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
Jump up ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David (9 September 2015). "Weather data suggests crosswind at time of BA 777 fire". Flightglobal. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
Jump up ^ "British Airways fire: Jet's suppression system didn't work, source says". CNN. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
Jump up ^ "Accident: British Airways B772 at Las Vegas on Sep 8th 2015, rejected takeoff due to engine fire". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
Jump up ^ Boeing 777 (G-VIIO)— British Airways — Plane Finder Data
Jump up ^ McNestrie, Adam (9 September 2015). "Aviation market to absorb $33mn BA Vegas loss". Insurance Insider. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
Jump up ^ "NTSB Investigators to Probe Engine Fire on British Airways 777 in Las Vegas". NTSB. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
Jump up ^ "NTSB Issues Update on the British Airways Engine Fire at Las Vegas". NTSB. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
