A Boeing Co. plane faced fresh questions after an engine fire caused an emergency landing shortly after takeoff on a transatlantic flight from Edinburgh.
In February last year, a turbine blade of a Delta Air Lines 767 passenger plane broke during takeoff. Shortly after takeoff, passengers saw flames briefly coming from the engine of the plane.
The flames subsided while the plane was in the air, but the plane made an emergency landing at Prestwick Airport, south of Glasgow, where ground crews noticed an oil leak from the plane’s right wing.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the British government agency that investigates aviation safety, has written to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration asking for action against Virginia-based Boeing.
The AAIB said the broken turbine blade damaged five other blades in the engine. Vibrations from the “unbalanced turbine” caused fuel pipes in the wings to rupture, causing fuel to escape from the wing tanks.
The fuel was ignited by hot air expelled from the engine, and a passenger sitting near the wing captured footage of the flames.
The AAIB said in a statement: “A safety recommendation has been made to the FAA asking Boeing Airplane Company to demonstrate that the design of the slat track enclosure drains on Boeing 767 series aircraft continues to comply with the requirements for large transport aircraft following this serious incident. Certification requirements.
The Delta Air Lines flight to New York’s JFK Airport was carrying 211 passengers and 10 crew members. As the Boeing plane was taxiing for takeoff, the two crew members heard a rattling sound that appeared to come from the cargo hold.
The pilot did not see or hear anything unusual, but the noise persisted during takeoff. They alerted the flight attendant, who tried unsuccessfully to warn the pilot on the plane’s internal phone. On her second attempt to contact her, she said passengers were shocked by the “pretty bad” noise.
The temperature indicator on the right engine began to fluctuate. The flight commander walked around the aircraft but could not find any specific problem. As a precautionary measure, he decided to divert the aircraft to Prestwick, which had a long runway.
A passenger filmed the flames during the flight to Prestwick. The flames disappeared and the captain decided to continue the flight at reduced power using the right engine.
There were no casualties in the incident, but the AAIB said everyone on board “quickly disembarked” after the fuel leak was discovered at Prestwick.
Boeing has been contacted for comment.
It is the latest in a series of safety incidents involving Boeing planes that have led to the departure of company executives amid a management shakeup. The company pleaded guilty to U.S. criminal charges stemming from the crashes of two 737 Max passenger jets in 2018 and 2019, after violating a 2021 agreement with regulators.
Alaska Airlines was also sanctioned in January after a 737 Max 9 cabin panel exploded in mid-air on a flight from Portland, Oregon. Many whistleblowers have publicly expressed concerns about the company’s safety culture and management.
In 2021, the British government temporarily banned Boeing 777 aircraft, which use the same engine that caught fire over Denver, Colorado, from entering British airspace.
