Spectacular British Airways Boeing 777 left-engine fire on take-off roll Las Vegas

[luchtzak]

At approximately 23:12UTC, a British Airways Boeing 777-200ER (G-VIIO), operating flight BA2276 from Las Vegas to London Gatwick, suffered a fire in the left engine during its takeoff roll. The crew aborted the takeoff and evacuated the 172 people on board (159 pax and 13 crew) through the emergency slides. There were no serious injuries to anyone on board the aircraft, although 14 people were slightly injured during the evacuation.

A thick plume of black smoke poured from the plane's engine. Some of those on board said there was smoke in the cabin as one exit was opened and immediately declared unsafe.


Image: BBC

One runway was shut down, but three others continued to operate.

An investigation into the blaze is now under way after what was clearly a lucky escape.

You can view our full track here: http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/g-viio/#

[Stij]

http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/video ... /1.2435914

And how many trolleys and bags are there on the tarmac? Shame on them!

Cheers,

Stij

[Passenger]

[sn26567]

British Airways statement issued many hours after the accident:

The safety of our customers and crew is always our priority and we are looking after those who were on board the BA2276 from Las Vegas to London Gatwick following an incident on Tuesday September 8, 2015.

The aircraft, a 777-200 experienced a technical issue as it was preparing for take-off from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Our crew evacuated the aircraft safely and the fire was quickly extinguished by the emergency services at the airport.

157 customers were on board the flight, along with three pilots and 10 cabin crew. A small number of customers and our crew have been taken to hospital.

All customers have been provided with hotel accommodation, and our colleagues are helping them with anything further they require.

We will provide any further updates on ba.com.

[quixoticguide]

A Rolls-Royce spokesman has said the engines in the #BritishAirways plane that caught fire in #LasVegas were not made by Rolls-Royce

[Passenger]

A Rolls-Royce spokesman has said the engines in the #BritishAirways plane that caught fire in #LasVegas were not made by Rolls-Royce

GE90 indeed, The Aviation Herald reports:
http://avherald.com/h?article=48c10434&opt=0

[sn26567]

In a distress call the plane's captain asked for the airport's emergency services: "Speedbird Mayday Mayday. Speedbird 2276 request fire services."

"Speedbird 2276 heavy, we are evacuating on the runway. We have a fire, repeat, we are evacuating," he added.

[sn26567]

NTSB is sending team of three investigators to British Airways 777 engine fire that occurred in Las Vegas yesterday. A Boeing team is also heading for Las Vegas McCarran to provide technical assistance in NTSB investigation.

They'll have some work, given the status of the aircraft

[Passenger]

They'll have some work, given the status of the aircraft

Methinks this is BA's second 777 hull loss:


Photo The Aviation Herald

[RTM]

Methinks this is BA's second 777 hull loss:

Very well possible, but too early to call. The fire was intense, but brief, so if the front spar is declared ok by Boeing, it will be salvagable. Though the age of the frame will also play a roll. But just look at the main structure, the rest is bolted on, and is easily replaced. Skin panels can be replaced, though the lower inboard wingskin is very critical, but the main thing will be the front spar. That is out of our expertise to Judge from a photo.

I had thought the Dolemiti ATR was a write of as well, but it returned to service. That burned longer, and is a lighter structure, but then again not fueled by fuel... So lets just wait and see...

[Established02]

Amazing how this BA pilot can keep such a calm voice.

ATC - LAS TOWER & LAS GROUND
https://video-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvide ... e=55F086B2

[jan_olieslagers]

It is called professionalism. Well done indeed.

[sn26567]

When bags take priority over people

“Move quickly to the closest usable exit, taking nothing with you.” Yet here again are images of passengers trundling suitcases and carrying hand luggage across the runway, after evacuating a British Airways aircraft that caught fire before take-off at Las Vegas.

The last time such safety breaches were publicised was after the fatal crash of an Asiana Airlines jet in San Francisco in 2013. Some commenters on social media even attributed passengers’ thoughtlessness to a Chinese tendency to put material things ahead of human lives (Chinese nationals accounted for half those on the flight).

If nothing else, the BA accident has disproved that slur: under pressure, the British are just as capable of the same act of stupidity.

Full article in The Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f359422-56f2 ... 0d644.html

[airazurxtror]

“Move quickly to the closest usable exit, taking nothing with you.”
under pressure, the British are just as capable of the same act of stupidity.

First, as far as I know, nobody said that there were only British passengers.

"Take nothing with you" : I have even seen emergency sheets where the passengers were requested to evacuate without their shoes, their spectacles and even without their denture ! Sheer stupidity indeed.
Some passengers may have precious things with them - documents, money, goods, PC and so on - that they want to be sure to keep.
They know that if they leave it in the plane, they will lose them if the plane is a total loss - if not, they'll have to wait for hours or days before recovering them if they are not lost or stolen in the process. And without much of a compensation.
But to take trolleys is perhaps a bit too far, I'll concede.

[Flanker2]

I can understand that people want to keep laptops with them during an evacuation.
A laptop can contain a fortune of information that may reveal a trade secret or information that is not backed up elsewhere. I always keep my laptop on my lap during take-off and landing, so I can evacuate smoothly.
If it's a real crash like Asiana, I wouldn't give a **** about my laptop, but if it's something like this accident, I would try to keep my laptop.
This being said, opening the bins to get anything out is a big no no for me if the slides are deployed for an evacuation. It clogs the aisles and that could mean that someone at the end of the line may not make it out in time.
That's unacceptable although it's the fault of the airlines who no longer announce during the safety briefing that you should evacuate leaving all your belongings and not open the overhead bins under any circumstances.
Yes, it's obvious, but people are also obviously self-centered.

[Acid-drop]

https://youtu.be/PU5lvyC4clQ

[Passenger]

Superb report from a journalist from The Guardian (U.K.) who was a passenger on the flight:

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015 ... e-to-panic

[Bracebrace]

Amazing how this BA pilot can keep such a calm voice.

A rejected takeoff is done through a set of very very strict procedures, including phrases and words used in communication, especially if they lead to the evacuation. So this is pretty straightforward and "drilled".

Some airlines add "request assistance" in the first call to the tower to prepare for the evacuation possibility, and if not you still need them to keep an eye on your brakes and wheels.

Interesting sidenote: at the point he makes the call, he _might_ not even have been aware there was a fire raging. As long as the fire is on the outside section of the engine (not inside the core, which is many times the case with uncontained failures) there will not even be a fire indication (Ie tailpipe fires do not trigger the engine fire detection loops). The logic behind that is that the engine fire extinguishers only work for the inside of the engine. In that case the fire call would come from the cabin when the PIC does an assesment of the situation and calls them up to get some information from the back.

[Acid-drop]

what is amasing to me is that they have to catch a "request asistance" with a normal voice in the middle of a whole day of overlapping conversation, funky accent, and more ...

[Homo Aeroportus]

Amazing how this BA pilot can keep such a calm voice.

I could have forgiven him had he added an S word in this comm. This flight is probably the last one of Chris Henkey as a Captain; aged 63 he is due to retire next week

H.A.