- Boeing 777 caught fire on runway in Las Vegas yesterday while travelling at 90mph in preparation for takeoff
- 170 passengers and crew had to evacuate and 14 of those were taken to hospital, mostly for smoke inhalation
- New close up images of the aircraft show the GE90 engine appears to have exploded inwards toward the fuselage
- Trail of charred wreckage between engine and aircraft suggests burning fuel was sprayed on to the plane
- Air crash investigators are now making their way to the scene and a preliminary report is expected in week
- BA has blamed the accident on a 'technical fault', though says it will be working with investigators on their report
The fire
extinguishers on the British Airways plane which burst into flames on a
Las Vegas runway failed to work, a source close to the investigation has
claimed.
It
is thought the fire suppression system failed when the left engine of
the Boeing 777 began to burn as the plane, bound for Gatwick,
accelerated down the runway.
Close-up
images of the damage have revealed the extent of the damage, showing
for the first time how one side of the engine exploded, before throwing
hot metal and burning fuel into the side of the aircraft, sparking a
huge blaze.
The
metal covering one side of the Boeing 777's engine appears to have been
blown outwards, while the underside of the wing and nearby fuselage are
badly burned, suggesting the fire was coming from that opening.
Scroll down for video
Close up images of British Airways
Flight 2276 that caught fire yesterday at Las Vegas McCarran
International Airport seem to show how the engine exploded on one side
before belching fire towards the cabin
BA has officially blamed the accident
on a 'technical fault', but aviation experts said images showing the
General Electric GE90 engine has been badly damaged on one side
suggested there had been an 'uncontrolled explosion'
The images also show how the flames
ripped through the outer shell of the plane and wing in just a few
minutes, threatening to burn through into the cabin, which could have
proved disastrous for the 170 passengers and crew on board
This picture was posted on Twitter of
investigators examining the scene after the fire. The section of the
plane under the wing has been completely destroyed in an apparent
explosion
The
new pictures also show how close the flames came to burning their way
through the exterior of the plane and into the cabin, threatening the
lives of all 170 passengers and crew who were on board at the time.
A
source close to the investigation claimed the plane's fire indication
light did come on 'at some point', and the aircraft had the right
extinguishers, but for some reason appear not to have work on the blaze,
according to CNN,
Investigators
are still looking into exactly what happened on Tuesday, as British
Airways Flight 2276 was preparing for takeoff at McCarran International
Airport around midday yesterday when there was a 'huge explosion'.
While
BA has issued a statement simply saying the accident was caused by a
'technical issue', aircraft experts have told ABC News that it appears
as if the engine exploded during takeoff.
Col.
Steve Ganyard, an aviation consultant for the news channel, said: 'The
engine really just exploded. After they put the fire out, you could see
how clearly that fire came to almost penetrating into the cabin.'
Pilot
Chris Henkey, 63, who has flown with the airline for more than 40
years, was hailed as a 'hero' today after he managed to stop the
aircraft within just nine second of the blaze breaking out, before
radioing for help.
Despite
his aircraft being engulfed in black smoke, Mr Henkey can be heard
calmly calling the radio tower, saying: 'Mayday, Mayday, Speedbird 2276
request fire services. We are evacuating on the runway, we have a fire, I
repeat, we are evacuating.'
The Boeing 777-200 was forced to abort
its takeoff when its port engine caught fire forcing the pilot to order
the emergency evacuation
While the outer side of the engine
appears virtually unharmed, then inside seems to have been torn open,
with the metal bent outwards
There is also a clear line of damage
between the engine and the fuselage which seems to suggest that fire and
debris was thrown from the inner edge of the engine and into the plane
Despite flames and smoke engulfing the
plane, some passengers have said today that people stopped to collect
their bags before getting off, blocking the aisles and delaying the
evacuation
The Boeing
777 jet was departing from McCarran International Airport bound for
Gatwick in the UK around midday yesterday when there was a 'loud
explosion' as it reached 90mph on takeoff
Passengers
described fleeing the cabin as it began to heat up from the blaze
outside, while 14 people were treated in hospital for smoke inhalation
or injuries sustained while trying to exit the plane down the emergency
slides.
Today,
relative of Mr Henkey told of how he has never experienced a major
problem with an aircraft before, but had a brush with death once during a
car crash in his vintage MG Midget in the 1980s.
Mr
Henkey's long-term partner Lenka Nevolna has also spoken of her pride
in his actions today, revealing that the pair actually got engaged in
April. It also emerged that the accident occurred just a week before Mr
Henkey is due to retire.
Passengers
today revealed how, despite the danger, some people delayed evacuating
the plane by stopping to grab their bags, blocking the aisles.
Images
taken from the runway by passengers fleeing from the flames and smoke
clearly showed some people carrying their cases and jackets, having
presumably removed them from the overhead luggage storage.
A
team from the National Transportation Safety Board in currently
en-route to Vegas from Washington DC in order to carry out an
investigation into what caused the engine to disintegrate.
A
preliminary report is expected within a week or so, though the full
report could take as much as a year to compile, given that this is an
unusual case.
Pilot Chris
Henkey, 63 (left), was today hailed a hero for stopping the plane in
just nine seconds before calmly radioing for help, while long term
girlfriend Lena Nevolna told of how she got engaged to Mr Henkey back in
April
Pilot Chris
Henkey, 63, who has flown with the airline for more than 40 years, was
hailed as a 'hero' today after he managed to stop the aircraft within
just nine second of the blaze breaking out, before radioing for help
Firefighters reached the plane within
moments of the pilot putting out a mayday call and the flames were
extinguished five minutes later, though they still managed to caused
extensive damage to the plane
Investigators from the National
Transportation Safety Board are en-route to Vegas from Washington DC to
probe what went wrong with the aircraft, with a preliminary report
expected within a week
The
Boeing 777 is the second safest aircraft in the skies today, according
to data from FearofFlying.com, having just one accident per 18million
hours of flying time completed.
There
have been just a handful of accidents in the plane's 19-year flying
history, and only one with fatalities. On that occasion the plane landed
short of the runway in San Francisco, killing three people on board.
The only aircraft that is safer than the 777 is the Airbus A340, which has never suffered an accident, despite
General
Electric, which manufactures the plane's two giant GE90 engines has
also pointed out that the machine has an 'outstanding' safety record
since being introduced in 1955.
A
spokesman said: 'Based on the engine fleet's service history, we are
not aware of any operational issues that would hazard the continued safe
flight of aircraft powered by these engines.'
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