NTSB investigators has confirmed the uncontained failure of the GE 90 engine involved in the British Airways Boeing 777 airliner engin...
NTSB investigators has confirmed the uncontained failure of the GE 90 engine involved in the British Airways Boeing 777 airliner engine fire incident, during take off from Las Vegas, on Sept 8.
Engine examination revealed that a portion of the stage 8-10 spool in the high-pressure compressor (HPC) section had failed, liberating fragments that breached the engine case and cowling. Additional pieces of the HPC spool were recovered from inside the engine and retained for metallurgical examination.
The fracture initiated in the HPC stage 8 disk web, a part of the stage 8-10 spool.
GE is performing high-priority, focused inspections of HPC hardware from other GE90 engines. The inspection data is being gathered to support the investigation and to determine further investigative actions.
Investigators disassembled and documented the GE90 engine at the GE facility in Evandale, Ohio. NTSB will continue metallurgical evaluations of the disk and the fracture features.
NTSB has earlier recovered several pieces of the high pressure compressor spool (approximately 7-8 inches in length) from runway.
The resulting fire due to the uncontained failure substantially damaged the left engine and pylon, left fuselage structure and inboard left wing airplane.
The engine fire happened during takeoff of British Airways flight 2276, operating a Boeing 777, at McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, which is equipped with two GE90-85B engines.
There were 157 passengers, including 1 lap child, and 13 crew members on board. There were several minor injuries as a result of the evacuation (mostly abrasions).
