BA Las Vegas - Engine fire

[bernardgreen]

I would still rather take my passport. money and car keys because once you are off the plane you are left to fend for yourself.

That might happen at some third world countries but in general evac'ed passengers are kept in quarantine until they have given information about what happpened. They are well cared for and those who have lost passports are provided with emergency travel documents based on the identity documents presented at booking or boarding. Consequential losses ( prolonged car parking fees etc ) are almost always covered by the air line or theri insurers.

The evacuation trials at Cranfield make it clear that one passsenger dithering a few seconds to collect a bag disrupts the flow to the emergency exits and significantly increases the risk of other passengers not being able to get out before they are over come by fumes and die on board.

 

[longdogs]

That's good to know that passengers are looked after. I was only going by past experiences, in the US for instance (not a third World country), a faulty aircraft caused us to miss our connecting flight and we were treated like shyyte. Sent off to a hotel in Washington at 2 in the morning even though the hotel had no intention of taking us - had to make our own way back to the airport and stay till morning. If I could have got back to the airline staff who looked me in the eye and told me there was a room waiting for us, I would probably be in a US prison now.

I suppose something like a fire would attract media attention so they feel compelled to help.

 

[empip]

A different angle - 'Lightened' the images to show more detail, the big compressor fan looks ok.

Possibly something(s) / shrapnel exited the casing in the 7-8 o'clock region.
I wonder if there was a combustion chamber failure... Interesting innit ?

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[WalksWithTurkeys]

A possible cause is the failure of a high pressure turbine blade. These things are sometimes made from a single crystal of nickel, and rotate at very high speed, driven by high temperature gasses. Consequently if one breaks it could easily fly out the side of the engine, and cause a catastrophic engine failure. As said, they are incredibly lucky this did not happen during the takeoff itself, or in flight, given that the wings are giant fuel tanks.

 

[mattylad]

If I had my hand luggage (man bag)under the seat or on my lap then I'd take it with me & rollocks to what anyone says - the personal & valuables within it would IMO not be replaced by the airline should I have to leave it.

Suitcase - only if it had something really really important in it.

 

[Whitespirit66]

It was said on the radio this evening that BA staff were complaining because passengers were retrieving their on board luggage even though they had been told not to.

In the event of an emergency evacuation, it's very important to keep a look out for any very young or elderly passengers.

They can get in the way as you rush for the exits.

 

[empip]

Looks like HP Compressor - Disk failure.

http://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/PR20150910.aspx

NTSB Press Release

"...

• 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.

..."


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