Engines blamed for BA crash
The British Airways plane from Beijing crashed at London's Heathrow airport
Friday, 18, Jan 2008 08:26
Yesterday's British Airways (BA) crash at Heathrow airport was caused by engine faults, an initial report from investigators concludes.
None of the 156 passengers and crew onboard the Beijing-to-London flight were injured in the crash, which saw the aircraft skid over half a mile on grass before coming to a stop just before runway 27L at Heathrow.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch suggests the Boeing 777-236 aircraft's engines did not cut out completely, but instead failed to respond to instructions two miles from the Heathrow runway.
The aircraft was at an altitude of 600ft when the problem occurred and "descended rapidly" before striking the ground 1,000ft short of the paved runway, the report says.
It adds "significant amount of fuel" leaked from the aircraft on impact after the right landing gear separated from the wing and the left landing gear was pushed up through the wing root.
No problems had been registered during the otherwise normal flight from Beijing, the report noted.
Describing the moment when the problem first developed, it states: "The autothrottle demanded an increase in thrust from the two engines but the engines did not respond.
"Following further demands for increased thrust from the autothrottle, and subsequently the flight crew moving the throttle levers, the engines similarly failed to respond. The aircraft speed reduced and the aircraft descended onto the grass short of the paved runway surface."
BA has revealed the flight crew's co-pilot, John Coward, was handling the aircraft for the final approaches to Heathrow.