09:02
Tieng Anh Vui
The doors on both engines of the flight that made an emergency landing at Heathrow last week had been left unlatched, investigators have found.
Air accident experts said the coverings - the fan cowl doors - separated and punctured the right engine's fuel pipe, damaging the aircraft's systems.
A fire later broke out in the right engine of the Airbus A319 on the British Airways flight to Oslo.
The jet landed safely and its 75 passengers and crew were evacuated.
The aeroplane returned to Heathrow soon after taking off last Friday when black smoke was seen coming from an engine.
The findings were made in an interim report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), which is examining the cause of the emergency.
'Appropriate initial action'
The fire in the right engine broke out as the flight prepared to land, but the left engine was unaffected, the AAIB report said.
"Subsequent investigation revealed that the fan cowl doors on both engines were left unlatched during maintenance and this was not identified prior to aircraft departure," the report added.
Keith Williams, BA chief executive, said: "We continue to co-operate fully with the investigation team and can confirm that appropriate initial action has already been taken in accordance with the AAIB's safety recommendation to Airbus."
Mr Williams said BA could not discuss any details while the inquiry was ongoing, but added: "We commend the professionalism of the flight crew for the safe landing of the plane, and the cabin crew and pilots for its safe evacuation."
BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott said British Airways had confirmed that two different engineers would normally check whether the engine covers had been shut before a plane took off.
"One checks, the other double-checks - that's clearly not happened in this case," he said.
Mr Westcott added that BA's mechanics were all staff of the airline, which would not say if anyone had been suspended.
Đăng ký: Tieng Anh Vui
Posted in: 
0 comments:
Post a Comment