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B.a. 777 On Fire At Las Vegas Mccarron


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Had taxied for takeoff when a fire broke out.

https://twitter.com/Bradley_Hampton/status/641389824507670528

https://twitter.com/LASairport/status/641394390859141121

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/09/british-airways-plane-catches-fire-at-las-vegas-airport

A British Airways jet has caught fire at Las Vegas airport, sending smoke billowing into the air.

The plane – a Boeing 777 – could be seen with flames around its fuselage.

There were 159 passengers and 13 crew on board. Two people were treated for minor injuries as a result of the fire, which involved a flight that was due to fly from the US city’s McCarran airport to Gatwick.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the blaze, which was quickly put out by emergency services. The plane’s take-off had been aborted shortly before the fire broke out.

Dramatic images of flight 2276 were shared on social media by members of the public at the airport, which is five miles south of downtown Las Vegas.

Guardian reporter Jacob Steinberg was on the plane and tweeted about the evacuation: “Just evacuated on a British Airways flight at Las Vegas airport after an engine caught fire. Don’t think anyone hurt.

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In the YouTube video linked above, you can see that the escape slides on the starboard side are flapping wildly in the wind when first deployed. A few seconds later they settled down. It may be that the slides were deployed before the other engine had been shut down.

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Glad no major injuries - but I wonder how many minor ones were due to passengers bringing their carry on bags with them. Twitter had many references to photos with people on the runway with their bags. That can't possibly be helpful.

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Mav, likely so; 16+ years old...the salvage rights will go high though.

A photo on AVHerald looking forward from the rear of the aircraft indicates the extent of the damage to the right side of the left engine. Only a disc failure can do that kind of damage.* Thirty seconds later it would have been an entirely different story.

* ed. I see some are considering 'can', (combustion chambers) failure.

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According to ITV, two of the emergency chutes failed to deploy properly, which correlates with the "flapping in the wind" referenced above.

The pilot apparently texted his adult daughter that there had been a massive explosion, but that he was okay.

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2015-09-09/hero-pilot-praised-for-evacuating-ba-plane-during-las-vegas-fire/

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Lots of video evidence for the investigation to determine - when you're on fire I guess you get the h* out best way no matter what. They went out the left side as well, and, I understand, the left engine was possible still running or had just been shut down - a lot of dust and smoke was being blown back just before the fire engines arrived. I doubt if the tanks were full so the risk of explosion would become very high in a very short period of time.

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Conehead, I thought the same thing until I saw the photo showing the other side of the plane. It's extremely smoky on the far side so likely they checked their windows and the port side looked better. IMO they shouldn't have used either front exit, but in the heat of the moment it's a tough fast choice to make

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vegas2_3433621b.jpg

a CLOSE UP

Also good work by LAS CFR crews in containing the engine fire. I'm amazed the center or wing tank did not ignite.

I would be interested to hear the history on the left engine. Recent overhaul or perhaps due for one. Also were there any recent maintenance issues with it.

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GE stops short of confirming BA 777 engine failure


09 SEPTEMBER, 2015 BY: STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

GE Aviation is not yet confirming initial reports that a British Airways 777-200ER suffered a “catastrophic" engine failure on 8 September.


The manufacturer of the two GE90-85B engines on the stricken aircraft has instead issued a statement with only a general comment about the nature of the incident: “Heat distress was evident on the left hand engine and the left side of the fuselage.”


GE also remains unaware of any issues that “would hazard the continued safe flight of aircraft powered by these engines”, the statement says.


That stands in slight contrast to a definitive statement by one of the passengers aboard flight BA2276, who says they were briefed by the captain after being evacuated from the aircraft on the runway at Las Vegas McCarran airport.


The captain told the passengers that the fire was caused by a “catastrophic engine failure”, according to a post on the witness’s Twitter account.


The US Federal Aviation Administration also issued a statement saying an “engine fire” erupted, causing the BA crew to abort the take-off.


GE is dispatching technical staff to McCarran airport to assist an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, along with Boeing and British Airways.


The 777, identified as G-VIIO, was carrying 157 passengers, according to BA, and was bound for London Gatwick.


After being cleared for take-off, the flight crew made a “mayday” call at 16:13, citing a fire. The aircraft was evacuated and airport fire crews extinguished the flames within 5min of the mayday report, according to McCarran airport officials.


BA says a “small number” of passengers and crew were treated for minor injuries. The carrier says it will give its "fullest support" to the NTSB inquiry.

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There was a 2013 AD on this engine as a result of some previous gearbox failures.

Airworthiness Directive

The FAA issued an Airworthiness Directive on May 16, 2013 and sent it to owners and operators of General Electric Company (GE) GE90-110B1 and GE90-115B turbofan engines. This emergency AD was prompted by reports of two failures of transfer gearbox assemblies (TGBs) which resulted in in-flight shutdowns (IFSDs). Investigation has revealed that the failures were caused by TGB radial gear cracking and separation. Further inspections found two additional radial gears with cracks. This condition, if not corrected, could result in additional IFSDs of one or more engines, loss of thrust control, and damage to the airplane. The Airworthiness Directive requires compliance by taking remedial measures within 5 days of receipt of the AD

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There is IFSD and Catastrophic engine failure. 2 Totally different animals.

The article above Stated the Captain called it a Catastrophic engine failure. Yup he probably did. I would too but in reality it may not have been "Catastrophic" The article is playing with semantics. one persons trash is another mans treasure sort of thing.

GE will not openly call it a Catastrophic failure as that would lead to all sorts of other issues. Not the least of which could be the downgrading of ETOPS certification for the engine type.

"HEAT DISTRESS" ???? really? The skins of the wing leading edge and fuselage MELTED.

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The NTSB is calling it an uncontained engine failure. Nothing more specific yet. This is the GE-90-85 engine. BA had another serious failure with this type in 2004.

Didn't BA ground their 777 fleet after that occurrence until GE confirmed the fault and rectification?

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NTSB Issues Update on the British Airways Engine Fire at Las Vegas

________________________________________


Sept. 10, 2015

As part of its ongoing investigation into Tuesday’s engine fire that occurred during takeoff of British Airways flight 2276, a Boeing 777, at McCarran International Airport (LAS), the NTSB today released the following investigative update.

NTSB investigators arrived on scene Wednesday morning local time to begin the on-scene investigation. The NTSB investigative team includes experts in powerplants, airplane systems, and fire. The following groups will be organized: powerplants, airworthiness (airplane structure, systems, and fire), flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.

Parties to the NTSB investigation are the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), The Boeing Company, and GE Aviation. In accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13, the UK Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB), as the State of the Operator, has appointed an accredited representative to assist the investigation. The UK accredited representative has initially appointed British Airways and the UK Civil Aviation Authority as technical advisors.

The following are the initial factual findings:

• British Airways flight 2276, a Boeing 777-200ER, equipped with two GE90-85B engines, registration G-VIIO, was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 129 and was enroute to London - Gatwick Airport (LGW), Horley, England.

• There were 157 passengers, including 1 lap child, and 13 crew members on board. There were several minor injuries as a result of the evacuation (mostly abrasions).

• The flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder and quick access recorder have arrived at the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Laboratory and are currently being downloaded.

• On Tuesday evening, the airplane was photographed and the runway debris documented by FAA and airport officials before airplane was towed to secluded area of the airport (in order to reopen the runway).

• Initial examination of the left engine revealed multiple breaches of the engine case in the area around the high pressure compressor.

• Examination of the material recovered from runway found several pieces of the high pressure compressor spool (approximately 7-8 inches in length).

• 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. This damage will be documented over the next several days.

The powerplants and airworthiness groups will continue documenting the airplane and engine over the next several days. It is anticipate that once the tooling is in place, the left engine will be removed and shipped to a facility to conduct a full teardown.
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