Heathrow 777 crash-landing cause still not identified — investigators publish fourth interim report

Jump to Comments

British air accident investigators are still seeking the cause of the loss of engine power that resulted in a British Airways Boeing 777 being wrecked beyond repair when it crash-landed short of the runway at London Heathrow on January 17.

As I reported in February, it is very unusual for at least the basic cause of a major jet aircraft accident not to be found quite quickly, which made the already puzzling end of BA Flight 38 even more so.

Citing the “sustained interest within the aviation industry and amongst the travelling public” in what happened, the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch today issued its fourth preliminary report on the accident, stating the evidence to date suggests the loss of power to both engines followed reduced fuel flows to them, caused by restrictions in the jet’s fuel system between the fuel tanks and each of the engine high-pressure pumps.

The restriction in the fuel flow, which happened just as the jet was very low on its final approach to Heathrow after an uneventful flight from Beijing, meant the engines failed to deliver a needed boost in power in the last moments of the flight.

The pilots managed to glide the plane over rooftops, a motorway and the airport fence, but it hit the ground hard short of the runway, sustaining extensive damage. Fortunately, there was only one serious injury among the 152 passengers and crew on board.

But what caused the fuel flow restrictions remains a mystery. The report makes it clear the aircraft’s systems were otherwise working perfectly, and an analysis of the fuel showed it of high standard.

However, the plane flew through some very cold air over Siberia. While this should not have been cold enough to have frozen any of the fuel, Boeing, which built the plane, and Rolls Royce, which made its engines, are conducting tests designed to replicate the environment the plane flew through.

The Boeing 777 is one of the safest planes ever to have flown. Until this event, there had not been one accident among the 667 that have entered service since the first one flew in 1994. Air New Zealand has eight of them.

The report notes that “no operational changes are currently recommended by
either the AAIB, Boeing or Rolls-Royce,” a strong indication there are no concerns about the 777 generally from the investigation of BA38 to date.

• Meanwhile, some dramatic photos of the BA plane just before landing, on impact, and of the passengers escaping, have been posted on the internet. They were taken by aviation enthusiast David Spalton, who was photographing planes landing at Heathrow that day.

1 Comment

Filed under Aviation

Tags: British Airways Flight 38, Boeing 777