Report out on Heathrow crash
Thursday, 04 Sep 2008 16:59
Ice in the fuel feed system was the probable cause of the January crash of a Boeing 777 at Heathrow airport, an interim investigation report released today concludes.
Flight BA38 from Beijing was put down just short of the runway by pilots on January 17th 2008 after losing power seconds before touchdown.
All 136 passengers and 16 crew members survived, although one woman suffered a broken leg.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) interim report reveals that fuel flow to both engines was restricted.
This was found to be most probably due to ice forming when the aircraft operated for a long period with low fuel flows in an unusually cold environment.
Although the plane had been flying in cold conditions over Siberia (in temperatures of -34 degrees C), the report states that the temperatures were not "unique" and jet fuel does not normally freeze above -57 degrees C.
"This is the first such event in 6.5 million flight hours and places the probability of the failure as being 'remote'," the report states.
It also confirmed that the aircraft was "operated within the certified operational envelope at all times".
The investigation did find that the level of water found in the fuel after the crash were very low for a Boeing 777 and the AAIB will now go on to try to establish how the ice formed.
The AAIB has recommended that airline regulation authorities and aircraft manufacturers introduce interim measures for Boeing 777s powered by Trent 800 engines to reduce the risk of such a situation occurring again.
Read the full report on the
AAIB website.