Heathrow emergency landing of BA plane with engine on fire: Engine cowls had been left unlatched

Air accident investigators say the doors on both engines of the BA flight that made an emergency landing at Heathrow last week had been left unlatched. This was due to human error.  Air accident experts said the coverings – the fan cowl doors – broke off and punctured the right engine’s fuel pipe, damaging the aircraft’s systems. The engine was extensively damaged.  The jet flew back to Heathrow, on one engine, with smoke trailing from the other, right across heavily populated London.  It landed safely.  The findings were made in an interim report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), which is examining the cause of the emergency  It will make its final report in a couple of months. The fan cowl doors on both engines were left unlatched during maintenance and this was not identified prior to aircraft departure. BA confirmed that 2 different engineers would normally check whether a plane’s engine covers had been shut before take-off. David Learmount, former pilot: “This is a bit of an accident waiting to happen because it is so difficult to see”. Airbus said there had, in the past, been 32 reported incidents of fan cowl doors not being shut – details of some below. 

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 Heathrow emergency landing: Engine doors ‘left unlatched’

 

Footage filmed from on board the plane shows the emergency landing

31 May 2013 (BBC)   includes several video clips of the plane and its landing

 

The doors on both engines of the flight that made an emergency landing at Heathrow last week had been left unlatched, investigators have found.

Air accident experts said the coverings – the fan cowl doors – broke off and punctured the right engine’s fuel pipe, damaging the aircraft’s systems.

A fire then broke out in the right engine of the Airbus A319 British Airways flight to Oslo.

The jet landed safely and its 75 passengers and crew were evacuated.

The aeroplane returned to Heathrow soon after taking off last Friday when black smoke was seen coming from an engine.

The findings were made in an interim report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), which is examining the cause of the emergency.

‘Appropriate initial action’

The fire in the right engine broke out as the flight prepared to land, but the left engine was unaffected, the AAIB report said.

“Subsequent investigation revealed that the fan cowl doors on both engines were left unlatched during maintenance and this was not identified prior to aircraft departure,” the report added.

Keith Williams, BA chief executive, said: “We continue to co-operate fully with the investigation team and can confirm that appropriate initial action has already been taken in accordance with the AAIB’s safety recommendation to Airbus.”

Mr Williams added that he could not discuss any details while the inquiry continued.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the report contained “serious findings”, adding that the aviation industry “must act immediately to take the appropriate safety action and ensure that all lessons are learnt from what has happened”.

BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott said British Airways had confirmed that two different engineers would normally check whether a plane’s engine covers had been shut before take-off.

“One checks, the other double-checks – that’s clearly not happened in this case,” he said.

Mr Westcott added that BA’s mechanics were all staff of the airline, which would not say if anyone had been suspended.

‘Slight bump’

The aircraft underwent normal overnight maintenance which included opening the cowl doors and checking the oil levels, the report said.

Nothing unusual was noted during the checks before the flight took off, but the cowl doors would have been “difficult to see unless crouched down so that the bottom of the engine is clearly visible”.

As the plane took off the 50-year-old pilot reported feeling a “slight bump” and thought the aircraft had run over a light on the runway.

David Learmount, former pilot: “This is a bit of an accident waiting to happen because it is so difficult to see”

Air traffic controllers alerted the pilot about the flight leaving some debris on the runway, which later turned out to be the detached cowl doors.

When the crew realised the doors had broken off, causing a “significant fuel leak” and affecting the hydraulic system, the pilot decided to return to the airport.

The cowl doors also damaged the tyres, landing gears and the hydraulic brake pipe.

The right engine was “extensively damaged” in the fire, the report said.

Last July Airbus said there had been 32 reported fan cowl door detachment events, but none of the cases resulted in a fire.

“The source of ignition that led to the in-flight fire is still under investigation,” the report said.

The AAIB has asked Airbus to inform operators about the 24 May emergency and recommended it “reiterates the importance of verifying that the fan cowl doors are latched prior to flight by visually checking the position of the latches”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22732582

 

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BA plane’s emergency landing at Heathrow caused by maintenance error

Investigators call on Airbus to again tell operators to ensure essential checks are made on cowl closures, a known safety risk

  • , transport correspondent  (Guardian)

Engineers inspect the damage to BA's Airbus A319 following its emergency landing at Heathrow

Engineers inspect the damage to BA’s Airbus A319 following its emergency landing at Heathrow. Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

A maintenance error led to engine parts being blown off a British Airways plane that was forced to make an emergency landing at Heathrow last week, investigators have confirmed.

Pictures showed that the cowls covering the aircraft engines were not properly shut, leading the 40kg metal coverings to fly loose during takeoff.

In a special bulletin on Friday, the Air Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) confirmed details of the damage the Airbus A319 sustained in the incident, in which the plane trailed smoke as it was forced to land on one engine over a heavily populated area of west London.

At least one of the cowls struck the plane, causing damage to the fuselage, wing, landing gear and a fuel pipe. Both of the engines were exposed, and the right-hand one caught fire and was shut down by pilots.

Investigators called on Airbus to again tell operators to ensure essential checks are made on the cowl closures, a known safety risk. Airbus had noted 32 similar incidents on its A320 family of planes, including the A319, in which the engine cowls detached in flight, causing damage to the plane. The manufacturer issued a safety briefing last year urging crews to be aware of the risks.

The AAIB said that cowls had not to date caused an engine fire, and the exact cause of the blaze was still under investigation.

The report made clear that previous information from the US governmentthat the left-hand, American-made International Aero Engines V2500 engine was closed down was incorrect, confirming it continued to function.

The London-to-Oslo flight BA762 turned back to Heathrow soon after takeoff on 24 May. Passengers and witnesses saw smoke and flames emanating from the plane. The 75 passengers and crew were evacuated via emergency slides on landing.

Both runways at Heathrow were closed briefly, and British Airways cancelled all short-haul flights until 4pm the same day.

The British Airways chief executive, Keith Williams, said: “We welcome the publication of the AAIB interim report. We continue to co-operate fully with the investigation team and can confirm that appropriate initial action has already been taken in accordance with the AAIB’s safety recommendation to Airbus.

“We regret we are precluded from releasing or discussing any additional details while the AAIB investigation is ongoing.

“We commend the professionalism of the flight crew for the safe landing of the plane and the cabin crew and pilots for its safe evacuation. We continue to offer our full support to those customers who were onboard the flight.”

An Airbus spokesman said: “We’re supporting the AAIB-led investigation and will be following its recommendations.”

Passengers expressed incredulity that the emergency was caused by a known risk. Alexandra Townsley, 27, a solicitor from west London, who was sitting in seat 5F beside the right-hand engine, said: “I think people who were on board are going to be very angry. It’s one thing to think that things go wrong, but this seems to be something standard that wasn’t checked – what procedures are in place? If it’s something that can be missed that easily and is missed repeatedly, I don’t see why Airbus can’t find a way to fix it so it can’t happen again.”

She added: “It sounds like this was a lucky miss.”

She said of the flight: “It was absolutely terrifying. We knew something was wrong right on takeoff as we saw the cowl door ripped off, just as the wheels came off the ground. I find it strange that the report says that crew weren’t initially aware that anything was wrong. We were all shouting.”

Jean Ralphs, a passenger who was sitting in seat 3F on the flight, said: “I will not fly on the first flight of a day on any Airbus plane until this is sorted out. I don’t think the answer is adequate.”

David Learmount, operations and safety editor of Flight Global, said: “It would have been difficult to fly with the damage to the wings and exterior – but well within the capability of a highly trained crew.”

The AAIB’s full report will follow, probably in several months.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/31/ba-plane-emergency-landing-maintenance-error

 

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An earlier case of cowl doors not closed:

AAIB Bulletin: 7/2000
FACTOR: N/A
Synopsis

No.1 engine cowling debris left on runway after take off. Aircraft diverted to Stansted and
landed safely on full emergency.

SAFETY RECOMMENDATION – 2000-026

It is recommended that the DGAC mandate aircraft modification aimed at appreciably
reducing the likelihood of A320 fan cowl doors inadvertently remaining unlatched after
maintenance. It is considered that, while measures to exhot maintenance personnel to
ensure that doors are latched and to improve the conspicuity of unfastened latches may
assist, they are unlikely to be fully effective and modification aimed at providing obvious
indication of unlatched doors is required.

…… and there is more at  http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/Annual%20Safety%20Report%202012.pdf

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and another case in  South Africa in May 2012

Incident: TAM A320 at Natal on May 19th 2012, dropped fan cowl doors
By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, May 20th 2012

A TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A320-200, registration PR-MYP performing flight JJ-3317 from Natal,RN to Sao Paulo Guarulhos,SP (Brazil) with 166 people on board, was departing Natal when both inboard and outboard fan cowl doors of the left engine (CFM56) opened in flight and were ripped off the engine. The crew levelled off, burned off fuel for about one hour and returned to Natal for a safe landing.
Passengers described the event as an engine explosion.

There is a passenger video – taken out of the window at take-off, showing the cowl door suddenly flipping up and breaking off. There is then a period of some consternation among the passengers, and after a while, the filming of the damaged engine cowl resumes as the plane burns up fuel before landing.

More information at http://avherald.com/h?article=44fd6ef8

PR-MYP without its left hand fan cowl doors (Photo: Caninde Soares)

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Also a similar incident at Newark in May 2010.
Details below

Jetblue Airways

Summary
An Airbus A320 airplane experienced a left engine fan cowl separation during takeoff. The flight crew was unaware of the fan cowl separation until passengers
pointed out the loss of both halves of the left engine fan cowl assembly. The flight crew returned for an uneventful landing. After parking and deplaning the
passengers, the flight crew noted additional damage to the left engine pylon, leading edge flaps, left main landing gear, and horizontal stabilator. Examination of
the engine fan cowls revealed that the cowl latch assembly and keeper housing assembly were intact, showed no evidence of malfunction, and exhibited no
distortion or damage and that the cowling structure revealed no evidence of failure. Some delamination was found, but determined to not be contributory to the
separation. Maintenance records revealed that a scheduled maintenance inspection of the left engine had been performed prior to the flight which required the
opening and closing of the engine fan cowls. According to the operator’s maintenance records, the left engine maintenance sign-off sheet revealed that a
mechanic had latched and locked the fan cowls and this task had been verify by another mechanic. Both the `action’ and `inspection’ signature blocks on the left
engine maintenance sign-off sheet for the fan cowl latch procedure had been signed off as part of the Required Inspection Item (RII) procedure.
The latch assembly is normally weighted and the inside and the sides of the latch handle are painted a different color (typically red or orange) than the cowling
skin to visually highlight whether the latch is fully locked or not. If the latch is properly locked, the latch handle is flush with the cowling skin and painted portion of
the latch handle is not visible. Examination of an exemplar Airbus A320 engine fan cowl revealed the possibility of a false latch condition that would mask an
otherwise unlatched position. It was reported that mechanics working on the engine routinely push the latch assembly up against the latch keeper housing
assembly in order to stow the latch to avoid inadvertent head injuries while working underneath engine. In this position, the latch is neither latched nor locked but
the latch assembly may be flush with the cowling so that the paint on the latch handle is not visible, giving a false indication that the latch is properly locked.

…. and there is more detail at http://airsafety.info/wp-content/uploads/acs110401.pdf

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Airbus safety info on cowl doors

There is extensive information on the cowl doors, how to check they are closed, etc from Airbus at  Airbus Safety First July 2012