Fan disk failure; containment success

[billvon 3,173]

With all the incidents/plane crashes we've been discussing lately, I thought this potentially-deadly engine failure was a testament to good design and good handling of the incident by the aircrew. Cool to see such a failure relegated from front page news to a post on a forum. From Airline Pilot Forums:

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I was deadheading to Hong Kong via Narita yesterday, and was riding on Delta flight 55, B-777-200; few seconds into the T/O roll the right fan decided to come apart on us, I was seated right next to it in seat 12G, front row view. When the fan let go at T/O thrust the compressor stalled and a 7 foot or so flame shot out the front end of the intake, the inlet outer skin was damaged but held, you could see where the fan blade(s) tip pushed out the metal. Some greyish/blue smoke came through the air conditionning, but dissipated quickly. It was a low speed reject, we could feel some shaking during the decelaration, nothing major, of course the first indication was a very crisp and sharp bang. I believe this aircraft has the RR Trent engine. Anyways, the point of this thread is to say KUDDOS to the Delta crew both front and back for displaying great skills during this mishap. They kept us informed as soon as possible in a very professional tone of voice over the PA. We taxied back under our own power to the gate, and 4 hours later we were on our way to Narita on another Delta 777. ========================

[FreeflyChile 0]

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With all the incidents/plane crashes we've been discussing lately, I thought this potentially-deadly engine failure was a testament to good design and good handling of the incident by the aircrew. Cool to see such a failure relegated from front page news to a post on a forum. From Airline Pilot Forums:

======================
I was deadheading to Hong Kong via Narita yesterday, and was riding on Delta flight 55, B-777-200; few seconds into the T/O roll the right fan decided to come apart on us, I was seated right next to it in seat 12G, front row view. When the fan let go at T/O thrust the compressor stalled and a 7 foot or so flame shot out the front end of the intake, the inlet outer skin was damaged but held, you could see where the fan blade(s) tip pushed out the metal. Some greyish/blue smoke came through the air conditionning, but dissipated quickly. It was a low speed reject, we could feel some shaking during the decelaration, nothing major, of course the first indication was a very crisp and sharp bang. I believe this aircraft has the RR Trent engine. Anyways, the point of this thread is to say KUDDOS to the Delta crew both front and back for displaying great skills during this mishap. They kept us informed as soon as possible in a very professional tone of voice over the PA. We taxied back under our own power to the gate, and 4 hours later we were on our way to Narita on another Delta 777. ========================

Wow...

Aren't these 777s (and therefore, their engines) relatively new? Is it odd to have something like this happen on such a new plane?

[yjumpinoz 0]

I work at an airplane manufacturer, and there are many things built into the airframe just for the scenerio you described. We locate wiring and the hydraulic system to prevent the airplane from being disabled when an engine comes apart. Think Sioux city. Glad it turned out well for everyone...

[vortexring 0]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/24/777_autothrottle/

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[FreeflyChile 0]

Thanks for that! Very informative.

[Rookie120 0]

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Wow...

Aren't these 777s (and therefore, their engines) relatively new?

Not really. The 777 came out in the 90's. United was the intro company to first receive it. This had to be one of the so called "older ones" since you can no longer get the 777 with the RR Trent on th wing. GE is the sole provider for the power now on the 777.

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Is it odd to have something like this happen on such a new plane?

It is very rare. About 18 months ago we had one of our 777's blow the LPT out the back. It blew right before they hit V1 and they did a RTO. Brakes where a little hot. They swapped plane and the flight left a few hours late. 18 Hours later we had a new motor on and the plane was on it's way. It is bery rare for the motor to blow like that but it does happen.

If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!