Investigation Summary
During the takeoff roll on Runway 07L, the aircraft was accelerating through approximately 78 knots when a loud bang was heard and the aircraft veered left. The captain immediately initiated a rejected takeoff. An uncontained failure in the high-pressure compressor (HPC) stage 8-10 spool of the left engine had occurred, liberating fragments that breached the engine cowling and severed the main fuel supply line. The resulting fire was intensified by a light crosswind that pushed flames against the fuselage, causing structural damage and melting cabin windows. During the evacuation, the right engine remained running for approximately 44 seconds after the evacuation command was given because the crew missed the step to shut down both engines in the initial chaos. Emergency services reached the aircraft and extinguished the fire within five minutes of the Mayday call.
Final Conclusions
The NTSB determined the probable cause was the failure of the left engine high-pressure compressor stage 8-10 spool due to a sustained-peak low-cycle fatigue crack that initiated in the web of the stage 8 disk. The investigation could not identify the specific cause of the crack initiation through physical or stress analysis. A contributing factor was the lack of specific inspection procedures for the stage 8 disk web. The NTSB released its final report, DCA15FA185, in June 2018.
Photographic Evidence (1)
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
63 years old, with British Airways since 1973. Pilot Flying (PF).
First Officer
30 years old, joined airline in 2006. Pilot Monitoring (PM).
Relief First Officer
45 years old, sitting in the jumpseat at the time of the accident. Identified the running right engine during evacuation.
Systems & Failure Modes
General Electric GE90-85B
The high-bypass turbofan engine suffered a fatigue crack in the stage 8 disk of the high-pressure compressor spool, leading to an uncontained failure.
Engine Fire Suppression System
The crew discharged two fire bottles into the left engine, but the fire continued due to the volume of fuel escaping from the severed main supply line.
Autothrottle
During braking, the First Officer had to manually disconnect the autothrottle as the thrust levers began moving forward.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was 16 years old at the time of the accident and was named Chelsea Rose.
- 02The fire was severe enough to cause the cabin windows to craze and structural damage to the fuselage skin.
- 03Captain Chris Henkey was on his penultimate flight before retirement; he chose to make this his final flight following the event.
- 04The aircraft was repaired by Boeing engineers in Las Vegas and Victorville before returning to service in March 2016.
- 05The takeoff was aborted well below the V1 decision speed of approximately 148 knots (170 mph).
Safety Actions & Advisories
Inspection Procedure Updates
The NTSB highlighted the lack of inspection procedures for the stage 8 disk web, leading to recommendations for enhanced non-destructive testing of GE90 compressor components.
Location
ACCIDENT SITE · Coordinates taken from the wikipedia geotag.