More Boeing Bad News

[Alisoncc]

A United Boeing 777-200, registration N772UA performing flight UA-328 from Denver,CO to Honolulu,HI (USA) with 231 passengers and 10 crew, was in the initial climb out of Denver's runway 25 when the right hand engine's (PW4077) inlet separated associated with the failure of the engine. The crew declared Mayday reporting an engine failure. The aircraft stopped the climb at about 13000 feet, the crew requested to return to Denver after running the checklists. ATC offered any runway, they would make it happen. The aircraft returned to Denver for a safe landing on runway 26 about 23 minutes after departure. The aircraft stopped on the runway for a check by emergency services. Emergency services advised of an active fire within the right hand engine and extinguished the fire a few minutes later. The aircraft was subsequently towed off the runway to a remote parking stand, where passengers disembarked and were bussed to the terminal. There were no injuries.

The engine inlet fell into the neighbourhood of Broomfield,CO, located about 16nm west of Denver near 13th and Elmwood Street, the debris also struck through the roof of an adjacent house.

Broomfield police reported that although debris impacted the neighbourhood and damaged a number of homes, there were no injuries on the ground.

http://avherald.com/h?article=4e35503b&opt=0

[PHXPhlyer]

As Elon would say: RUD of the nacelle.

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

PP

[Alisoncc]

I think one would consider that definitely an "uncontained" engine mishap.

[llondel]

The engine looks to be all there, even if it's otherwise uncontained.

[OFSO]

As a complete and utter ignoramus, why not fuel shut off ?

[Ex-Ascot]

As a complete and utter ignoramus, why not fuel shut off ?

I am sure the fuel supply was off. That is something burning within the engine unit. Can't think what. Aviation engineers please.

[ian16th]

ETOPS

[OFSO]

And I see a 747 freighter showered a town in Holland (?) with bits and pieces yesterday. Very unpleasant.

There was a lovely elderly Mercedes saloon parked in Broomfield, not far from where a large section of 777 cowling fell. Luckily....

[FD2]

ian - yes that went through my mind too but the system worked well enough to get the aircraft on the ground, but I wondered what would have happened if it had happened to a 777 mid-Atlantic. Then I thought that with the reliability of engines these days, flying to the nearest suitable airfield on one or three engines would not have been so different in risk terms. Now if a fire had started you'd be stuffed no matter how many engines you had.

Are those flames in the compression stage or the hot part of the engine, any plank drivers?

Having written that I'm still not a great fan of flying over some heaving, freezing ocean on two engines in a large metal tube which doesn't hover, cynicism derived from the reliability of engines 40 or more years ago!

[FD2]

Here is the Maastricht incident:

https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/dut ... 21.article

[Undried Plum]

ETOPS

[Pontius Navigator]

Many alloys will burn at the right temperature I guess. I waz once surprised when a roll of wire wool burnt out. No flames it just changed to Ash when a spark landed on it.

I wonder how high it could fly up to. Might it, have been able to starve the fire of oxygen? Had it been at height what would have been its drift down level?

[Rwy in Sight]

I'm still not a great fan of flying over some heaving, freezing ocean on two engines in a large metal tube which doesn't hover, cynicism derived from the reliability of engines 40 or more years ago!

For some reasons I wish I could use a twin engine over the Atlantic just to taste what ETOPS is like and see if I would have forgotten completely about having only two engines after an hour or so after take off or I would keep following the track to see which is the closest airport at every moment of flight.

[PHXPhlyer]

Do it in an Airbus.
The box will do that for you.

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... gines.html

BREAKING NEWS: FAA issues emergency order calling for inspections of Boeing 777s with Pratt and Whitney engines following Denver mid-flight explosion and says it's likely some will be REMOVED from service
FAA issued an emergency order calling for inspections of Boeing 777s fitted with Pratt and Whitney engines just 24 hours after a mid-flight incident in Denver
FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said Sunday that he's directed his team to 'issue an Emergency Airworthiness Directive '
The directive would require immediate or stepped-up inspections of Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines
Meanwhile, Japan announced that 32 passenger jets using the same family of engine as Boeing 777 that caught fire on Saturday have been grounded
Planes affected by order from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, are 13 aircraft operated by Japan Airlines
Nineteen are operated by All Nippon Airways; none are scheduled to fly Monday
By VALERIE EDWARDS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an emergency order calling for inspections of Boeing 777s fitted with Pratt and Whitney engines just 24 hours after a mid-flight incident in Denver.

In a statement released Sunday evening, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said: 'After consulting with my team of aviation safety experts about yesterday's engine failure aboard a Boeing 777 airplane in Denver, I have directed them to issue an Emergency Airworthiness Directive that would require immediate or stepped-up inspections of Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.

'This will likely mean that some airplanes will be removed from service,' he added.
Dickson said that his team has 'reviewed all available safety data following yesterday's incident,' and 'based on the initial information, we concluded that the inspection interval should be stepped up for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes'.

According to Dickson, the FAA 'is working closely with other civil aviation authorities to make this information available to affected operators in their jurisdictions'.

He said his team will be meeting with Pratt & Whitney and Boeing 'to finalize the details of the Airworthiness Directive and any accompanying service bulletins to ensure that the appropriate airplanes are included in the order'.

Meanwhile, Japan announced on Sunday that 32 passenger jets that use the same family of engine as the Boeing 777 that caught fire during the United Airlines flight from Denver to Honolulu on Saturday, have been grounded.

According to Nikkei Asia, the planes affected by the order from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, are 13 aircraft operated by Japan Airlines.

The other 19 planes are operated by All Nippon Airways. None of the planes are scheduled to fly on Monday.

Both announcements occurred just 24 hours after the United Airlines plane suffered catastrophic engine failure shortly after take-off.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft, carrying 231 passengers and 10 crew on board, was heading to Honolulu on Saturday from Denver International Airport when debris struck the plane’s right engine, causing it to erupt into flames.

The captain had been giving an announcement over the intercom when a large explosion rocked the cabin, accompanied by a bright flash.

Passengers recalled their horror as they looked out the window to see engine casing and chunks of fiberglass falling from the plane, and thick black smoke emanating from the wing.

The incident forced the pilot to attempt an emergency landing back in Denver just 20 minutes after take-off, at around 1.30pm local time.
Remarkably, there were no injuries reported either on board the flight or on the ground.

Aviation safety experts said the plane, a 26-year-old 777, appeared to have suffered an uncontained and catastrophic engine failure.

Such an event is extremely rare and happens when huge spinning discs inside the engine suffer some sort of failure and breach the armored casing around the engine that is designed to contain the damage, said John Cox, an aviation safety expert and retired airline pilot who runs an aviation safety consulting firm called Safety Operating Systems.

Pilots practice how to deal with such an event frequently and would have immediately shut off anything flammable in the engine, including fuel and hydraulic fluid, using a single switch.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, United said: 'Flight 328 from Denver to Honolulu experienced an engine failure shortly after departure, returned safely to Denver and was met by emergency crews as a precaution.

‘We ensured our customers were comfortable and cared for at Denver International Airport while we prepared another aircraft to get them to Honolulu.

‘Those who did not wish to travel with us were provided hotel accommodations. We will continue to work with federal agencies investigating this incident.’

The airline declined to identify the pilot when pressed by DailyMail.com.

Boeing, meanwhile, said its technical advisers would assist the NTSB with its investigation.

Former National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall called the incident another example of 'cracks in our culture in aviation safety (that) need to be addressed'.

Hall, who was on the board from 1994 to 2001, has criticized the FAA over the past decade as 'drifting toward letting the manufacturers provide the aviation oversight that the public was paying for'.

Prior to landing safely, large chunks of debris had fallen from the plane on the Denver suburbs below, narrowly missing homes and other buildings.

Passenger David Delucia recalled for the Denver Post how he grabbed his wife’s hand after hearing the explosion, telling her: 'We’re done for.'

'The plane started shaking violently, and we lost altitude and we started going down,' Delucia, who sat directly across the aisle from the side with the failed engine, said.

'When it initially happened, I thought we were done. I thought we were going down. I thought we were going to die at one point,' he said, adding that he and his wife took their wallets containing their driver’s licences and put them in their pockets so that 'in case we did go down, we could be ID'd'.
Mayday, aircraft just experienced engine failure, need to turn immediately,' the pilot said, according to audio from the monitoring website liveatc.net that was reviewed by Reuters.

Denver resident Kirby Klements was inside his home with his wife when they heard a huge booming sound.

A few seconds later, the couple saw a massive piece of debris fly past their window and into the bed of Klements’ truck, crushing the cab and pushing the vehicle into the dirt.


He estimated the circular engine cowling at 15 feet in diameter. Fine pieces of the fiberglass insulation used in the airplane engine fell from the sky 'like ash' for about 10 minutes, he said, and several large chunks of insulation landed in his backyard.

'If it had been 10 feet different, it would have landed right on top of the house,' he said in a phone interview with AP. 'And if anyone had been in the truck, they would have been dead.'
Additional debris was found scattered across turf field at Commons Park as well as the Northmoor and Red Leaf sections of Broomfield.

The department has urged locals not to move any debris they might find, saying they want 'all debris to remain in place for investigation'.

Broomfield is a suburb about 25 miles north of Denver. Tyler Thal, who lives in the area, said he was out for a walk with his family when he noticed a large commercial plane flying unusually low and took his phone out to film it.

‘While I was looking at it, I saw an explosion and then the cloud of smoke and some debris falling from it,’ he said.

‘It was just like a speck in the sky and as I’m watching that, I’m telling my family what I just saw and then we heard the explosion. The plane just kind of continued on and we didn’t see it after that.’
One local resident, Kieran Cain, told CNN he was with his children at a nearby elementary school when the aircraft flew over. Seconds later, they heard a loud explosion.

'We saw it go over, we heard the big explosion, we looked up, there was black smoke in the sky,' Cain told CNN.

'Debris started raining down, which you know, sort of looked like it was floating down and not very heavy, but actually now looking at it, It's giant metal pieces all over the place.

'I was surprised that the plane sort of continued on uninterrupted, without really altering its trajectory or doing anything,' he said.

'It just kind of kept going the way it was going as if nothing happened.'

One man who said he was a passenger on the flight tweeted: 'I’m on #UA328, pilots did an amazing job because it was loud, shaking, and scary as hell back here. Fire crews have us out on the tarmac.'

Another passenger, Travis Loock, told CNN that he heard a boom about 20 minutes into the flight.

‘There was a big boom and the kind of sound you don't want to hear when you're on the airplane,’ said Loock, who was flying with his wife.

‘And I instantly put my shade up, and I was pretty frightened to see... the engine on my side was missing.’

‘We were just glad we weren't over the ocean, because that's where we were heading,’ he said.

Loock told CNN that while fear was palpable on board, everyone was ‘very calm’ when the explosion took place.

‘A lot of people couldn't see the engine on that side, right, so I was a little more freaked out because I could see it, and I knew that was not right,’ he said.

PP

[Ex-Ascot]

The incident forced the pilot to attempt an emergency landing back in Denver

Am I nitpicking here? The captain was not 'forced' to do anything it was his decision. He did not 'attempt' he 'carried out' an emergency landing.

We were booked to fly to the Caribbean on a twin when BA had just been licenced ETOPS. We thought brilliant a shorter flight. Nope, the crew had yet to qualify. We returned ETOPs though.

RiS although I am a dedicated 4 engine person I operated the A300-600 2 engines across the pond many times (great unwashed to Florida) and didn't really think about it. As PHX says it is all worked out for you in the planning and the boxes.

[TheGreenGoblin]

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/ne ... 05418.html

Boeing 777s have been grounded around the world after the US aviation regulator announced an investigation into the United Airlines flight that suffered an engine failure on Saturday, showering debris over homes in Denver.

The aircraft’s manufacturer recommended the grounding of all 777s using the same Pratt and Whitney 4000 engines, which includes scores operating across the US, Japan and South Korea.

United had already announced that it would voluntarily and temporarily remove 24 of its planes from active service while investigations are carried out.

[Pontius Navigator]

I think TOP has all the analysis except I didn't see the METAR.

Uncontained blade failure contained by the cowling which was Uncontained.

Fire was the kevlar noise insulation that does not contain noise. It was also composite plastics fuelled by engine oil and hydraulic oil.

I bet they held their breath in Derby when the news first broke.

[Woody]

Love the “ I just knew that something was wrong “ , no ***** Sherlock

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56149894