BA flight on fire at LAS runway

[700UW]

http://fox13now.com/2015/09/08/plane-catches-fire-on-runway-in-las-vegas/

 

[700UW]

Early reports it was a rejected takeoff due to engine failure, but no confirmation.
 
Looks like a gear fire.
 

 

[FWAAA]

Glad everyone got out safely; some early reports of a couple of minor injuries:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/08/us/las-vegas-british-airways-fire/

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/09/british-airways-plane-catches-fire-at-las-vegas-airport

Only 159 passengers on a 275 seat 772? That's a light load.

 

[robbedagain]

glad no one was hurt    pilots later told pax catastrophic failure of one of the engines

 

[jimntx]

Bravo to the crew for getting the passengers evacuated safely and quickly!
 
By the way, did anyone notice in one of the pictures, passengers walking down the runway carrying their bags?  Never fails that there is at least one who refuses to follow instructions.  Of course, it would not be his fault if his bag punctured the slide causing it to be unusable, now would it?

 

[700UW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0Ecr5h_Y-M

 

[700UW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvA5X1anaH4

 

[700UW]

 

[700UW]

 

[700UW]

 

[1AA]

It was a successful evacuation. No fatalities. There is one thing I see in the photos that troubles me. The left engine was on fire. At some point someone opened the L1 door with a slide deployed. I know flight crews are trained in fire situations not to open a door and deploy a slide near a fire. I wonder if a pax opened the door in a panic situation. Another point I always make to my family and friends when traveling. Always wear protective foot wear. In these situations flip flops and beach sandals are almost guaranteed to come off or your going to get stepped on.

 

[robbedagain]

They keep saying left engin fire but in the pics 700 provided it appears theres a huge hole in fuselage and fire burn marks on right side as well as left inboard leading edge slats that had to be one hell of an intense fire

 

[700UW]

They didnt open 3L where the fire was more intense according to reports.
 

 
 

Accident: British Airways B772 at Las Vegas on Sep 8th 2015, rejected takeoff due to engine fire
 
By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Sep 9th 2015 06:41Z,
 
last updated Wednesday, Sep 9th 2015 13:51ZA
 
British Airways Boeing 777-200, registration G-VIIO performing flight BA-2276 from Las Vegas,NV (USA) to London Gatwick,EN (UK) with 157 passengers and 13 crew, was accelerating for takeoff from Las Vegas' runway 07L when the crew rejected takeoff at low speed and stopped the aircraft about 800 meters/2600 feet down the runway, an arrival to the parallel runway 07R was instructed to go around. After coming to a stop the crew radioed "Mayday, Mayday, need fire services", tower replied fire services were already on their way, the crew advised they were evacuating, they had a fire, they were evacuating. 13 people received minor injuries in the evacuation, two of them were taken to hospitals. Smoke and flames were seen from the left hand engine (GE90), emergency services responded and put the fire out about 4 minutes after the aircraft rejected takeoff. The aircraft received substantial fire/heat damage to left hand inboard wing and fuselage.

Las Vegas Airport reported flames were spotted at 16:14L (23:14Z), the fire was put out by 16:18L. Two occupants were taken to hospitals for minor injuries, a total of seven needed medical attention.

Emergency services reported a total of 13 occupants required medical treatment.

Passengers reported there was a loud bang from the left hand side, the brakes came on, then there was enormeous heat, that appeared to melt down a couple of passenger windows, smoke entered the aircraft. They evacuated down the slides and were taken to the terminal. Later the captain joined the passengers at the terminal and told them, that they had suffered a catastrophic failure of the left hand engine.

The airline reported: "The aircraft, a 777-200 experienced a technical issue as it was preparing for take-off from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Our crew evacuated the aircraft safely and the fire was quickly extinguished by the emergency services at the airport. 157 customers were on board the flight, along with three pilots and 10 cabin crew. A small number of customers and our crew have been taken to hospital." The passengers were taken to hotels, hotlines have been opened for friends and relatives of those on board.

The NTSB have dispatched three investigators on site.

The runway was closed for 4 hours, the FAA issued ground stops for a number of flights inbound to Las Vegas.
 

 

[bob@las-AA]

I first heard of this from my co-workers from LAS, 
Thanks, Mike and Julie for the pics.
 
 
View attachment 11043
 
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/08/us/las-vegas-british-airways-fire/
 
 
 

 

[700UW]