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4 months ago
22
Boeing has been asked to urgently carry out safety checks after flames were spotted shooting out from underneath the wing of an aircraft flying from Edinburgh to New York.
There were 211 passengers and ten crew on board the Boeing 767-332 when it suffered a contained engine failure leading to a fuel leak in February 2023, according to a report published today by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).
Within half an hour of the plane taking off, an emergency was declared and crew diverted the plane to Prestwick Airport on the west coast of Scotland.
Footage shot by one of the passengers on board shows flames enveloping the right-hand wing.
Anxious passengers could be heard speaking in the background, while some were in tears.
A Delta Airlines flight en route from Edinburgh to JFK had to make an emergency landing after an engine surge led to flames coming from underneath the wing
'An announcement was made that we were heading to Glasgow Prestwick. The noise then cut to nothing like the engines had gone. At this point there was an eerie silence then gasps,' passenger Julie Nisbet told STV.
'We saw the captain walk up and down the flight and thought this could be serious.
'It felt like it was gliding at one point when the engines cut. I didn't think we'd get down safely. When we did, we clapped and cheered and whistled. I'm just happy to tell the tale.'
A reporter for BBC Scotland, Laura Pettigrew, also happened to be on the plane and gave her account of what happened.
She said: 'The plane took off and there was a loud engine noise, similar to the noise normally during take-off and landing, but it seemed to continue once we were in the air.
'The captain walked up the length of the plane and then there was a Tannoy announcement - although no-one could hear it.
'When the plane touched down we could see fire trucks and firefighters with hoses rushing towards us,' Pettigrew said.
'We were told to leave all our belongings and get off as quickly as we could. There was no real panic among passengers, more just confusion. However some families with kids were pretty distressed.
'The pilots seemed to do a smooth job of getting us down safely. Apparently the cabin crew were preparing for a crash landing.'
Today the Air Accidents Investigation branch found that a high-pressure turbine blade had fractured in the right engine during take-off from Edinburgh Airport, causing damage to a further five blades.
The out of balance turbine caused vibrations sufficient enough to fracture a slat track housing drain tube and allow fuel from the right wing tank to escape.
Fuel escaping from the wing was quickly ignited by the hot engine exhaust.
The flames appeared to be coming from the engine having suffered an 'engine surge'
Four fire engines met the aircraft which Delta has described as a 'mechanical fault' (Stock Image)
Thankfully the fire was extinguished before landing - although emergency services were on stand by.
Once at Prestwick Airport, the fire service began to capture the leaking fuel before it ignited again on the hot engine or brakes.
All passengers were quickly disembarked and no injuries reported.
A Safety Recommendation has been made to the Federal Aviation Administration that requires the Boeing Aircraft Company to demonstrate that following 'this serious incident', the design of the slat track housing drain tube on the Boeing 767 family of aircraft continues to comply with the certification requirements for large transport aircraft.
The worrying report also revealed that crew members had no idea the engine had burst into flames.
It said that at around 11am, while the aircraft was taxiing to Runway 24 at Edinburgh Airport, two members of the cabin crew stationed at the overwing exits recalled hearing 'rattling' as though something was loose in the cargo compartment.
At around 11.10am, while trying unsuccessfully to re-engage the autothrottle, the commander observed the right engine's Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT) indication was fluctuating.
Deciding they should return to Edinburgh, he informed Air Traffic Control 'we don't have an emergency at this time we just have a maintenance problem'.
The relief pilot returned from the cabin saying he 'walked all the way to the back' without noticing anything obviously abnormal, and suggested any noise might relate to the pressurisation system.
The commander explained they were diverting anyway, commenting 'I don't want to stay in the air with that engine', and asked him to check performance information for Prestwick and Belfast International airports.
The relief pilot informed the cabin crew, passengers, and operator they were diverting to Prestwick.
The flight crew remained unaware of any flames until after the flight.
The Boeing 767 took off at 10:50am but just 30 minutes later, an emergency was declared, and by 11:30 AM the plane had landed at Prestwick Airport
The aircraft landed at 11.31am and the flight crew reported noticing then that the right engine's primary indications read zero.
Checks showed fuel was coming from a drain hole in the wing dry bay.
The report said: 'There was the potential for a more significant event to have occurred'.
The AAIB report in detail
'At the time of publication of this report, the manufacturer had found that there was no increased risk to a catastrophic outcome from a failed drain tube. The Federal Aviation Administration review of the analysis was pending.
'It is recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration requires the Boeing Airplane Company to demonstrate that following this serious incident, the design of the slat track housing drain tube on the Boeing 767 family of aircraft continues to comply with the certification requirements for large transport aircraft.
'During the early stages of the event flight a high-pressure turbine blade fractured through fatigue cracking. The fatigue crack was initiated by a possible combination of hot corrosion and pitting from external contamination.. The detached blade caused damage to a further five blades resulting in an engine imbalance.
'A drain tube in the right fuel tank fractured, probably as a result of the vibrations transmitted from the out of balance engine. This resulted in fuel escaping from the right fuel tank out of a wing drain hole and igniting in flight.
'The flight crew landed the aircraft promptly at Prestwick. They were unaware of any flames, or the right engine running down, until after landing.
'The fuel coming from the wing was noticed by the ground crew as the aircraft parked near the terminal buildings. The wind was blowing the fuel towards the hot brakes and there was a risk of a fuel fire. The passengers were rapidly disembarked, and actions were taken to contain and stop the fuel leak.
'As a result of the vibration-driven fatigue fracture of the drain tube, the aircraft manufacturer has launched a project to identify potential reliability improvements to the design while the Federal Aviation Administration reviews the manufacturer’s finding that the risk of a catastrophic outcome from a failed drain tube is not elevated.'
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