Jetblue Plane Catches Fire

[ISP]

JetBlue A/C N522JB, a Airbus A320, was involved in a serious accident last night.

The plane flew in from LGB as flight 222, and was sitting at the gate several hours later (with no PAX onboard) waiting to be moved to the hanger.

Apparantly, MX did an engine runup, and a coil in the #2 engine caught fire. The entire #2 engine became engulfed in flames, and a serious situation arose. JB personnel were the first to put the fire out, but not before the right wing of this A/C basically melted and became charred. Port Authority made it to the aircraft several minutes later, and sprayed the plane with chemical fire extinguisher for a good 30 minutes.

The worst part of this, at least from a PR perspective, was that this occured at Gate 1. For those familiar with T-6 at JFK, Gate 1 is totally visable to both the departures and arrivals area. Many customers were shocked that a plane was on fire, and people were quite shaken up who witnessed this.

Personally, I had just arrived on a B6 plane and witnessed the whole thing. After I got more information from friends of mine working at the airport, I heard that Neeleman himself arrived at the scene several hours later. The aircraft will be out of service for quite sometime, and will require millions of dollars in repair.

 

[CaptianBoomer]

A very serious situation that could have turned out a lot worse.....]

I am reminded of the USAir 767 that had the uncontained engine failure in PHL. Had the engine not let go when it did, it would have either the next takeoff or halfway across the pond.

Will be very interesting to see how much damage there is, how long it will take to repair (if it can be repaired) and why it happened.

Kudos to all involved for mitigating this incident.

ISP you are quite correct. There is nothing worse than getting ready to get on a jet and then see one next door on fire.

Boomer

 

[daisyblue]

Neeleman, whats he going to do?
hand out t-shirts to all involved?
buy them all pizza?
give me a break

 

[Whadayano]

Neeleman, whats he going to do?
hand out t-shirts to all involved?
buy them all pizza?
give me a break

[post="286386"][/post]​

Probably more to reassure/thank employees than to hold pax hands. You know that the usual suspects will be all over them on maintenance questions, so it would be interesting to know the cycles on the engine/frame and date of last check. If it was a recent delivery it will be largely covered by warranty--and the IAE people will have some serious questions to answer.

 

[coolflyingfool]

It is the American way to stand and gawk at destruction. Seeing how this happened in NYC, I don't think the people were too traumatized. Just my thoughts........

 

[Hackman]

Was this engine built by third party maintenance in El Salvador? You get what you pay for. Cheaper is usually not better in the Aircraft Maintenance world. :huh:

 

[CaptianBoomer]

Hackman:

While cheaper is usually not better, mistakes get made all the time in every MTC shop in this country and abroad......

The USAir 767 engine that exploded on the wing in PHL was maintained by GE. The rumor around was that the disc that came apart was dropped by MTC personnel and they still put it back on the engine......

The UAL DC-10 that crashed in Sioux City...that engine had a defect from manufacture that went unnoticed and then the crack that began to form was missed.......

The DC-10 that crashed at ORD (AA 191) was caused by poor MTC procedures that had their beginning in trying to save time (read...money)...

Point is, you do the best you can with the procedures you have and you hope that you can catch errors and omissions before they end up being a problem. This goes for all MTC shops, not just the ones in the USA.

Boomer

 

[AAviator]

Hackman:

While cheaper is usually not better, mistakes get made all the time in every MTC shop in this country and abroad......

The DC-10 that crashed at ORD (AA 191) was caused by poor MTC procedures that had their beginning in trying to save time (read...money)...

Point is, you do the best you can with the procedures you have and you hope that you can catch errors and omissions before they end up being a problem. This goes for all MTC shops, not just the ones in the USA.

Boomer

[post="286587"][/post]​

So If AA does it its "poor" procedures.......

Where's #12?

 

[Flufdriver]

Didn't "Fork Lift" Joe, then with AA have something to do with AA191 crash...beware Airtran!

 

[AA191]

Hey guys,

It was not just the fork lift driver in TUL that caused AA191 on May 25, 1979. The weather in Chicago spiked 30 degress within the hour berfore the crash. At rotation, the pavement had cracked and pushed up 7 inches so when the rear tires hit, they in essence hit a wall of pavement 7 inches tall which inessence put the pressure on the already weak pylon. So it was several contributing factors.

 

[Hackman]

I didn't say no mistakes are made in aircraft maintenance at the majors . I said that you get what you pay for. In a third world country, when "the man" says install that worn or wrong part, the mechanic does what he is told, he has no choice. Not to mention the lack of security, illegal aliens have been caught working on aircraft recently in the USA, how many are working at the overseas chop shops? Maybe a few terrorists hiding amongst them? Scary. Its only a matter of time before the cowards try something with another aircraft, easy access is a big plus in the mind of a terrorist.

AA191 was caused in my opinion by shortcuts in procedures, approved by AA management and engineering and Boeing, I believe the mechanics were just following orders. Lets look at Alaska Air's MD-80 and the illfated jackscrew. Written up by mechanics as worn....and signed off by management who of course knew more about jackscrews than an A@P.

Now if that happens here in the USA, you can only imagine what happens in El Salvador, China, and Mexico. The FAA has admitted they don't have the man power to oversee these chop shops. I, along with many experts, fear you going to see more tragic incidents with increased outsourcing.

You don't take a Porshe 911 Turbo to Mack's Texaco for an engine rebuild. However its just "planesmart" business to fly your Scarebus A320 down to El Savador to be overhauled by Hector who can't read the manuals, he no speak english.

 

[eolesen]

AA191 was caused in my opinion by shortcuts in procedures, approved by AA management and engineering and Boeing

[post="286644"][/post]​

I'll assume you meant McDonnell-Douglas.... and if I recall, CO was using the same forklift procedure, and had several pylon damaged aircraft as well which were discovered during the grounding...

 

[coolflyingfool]

Hey AA191 - the temperature in Chicago went up 30 degress in the hour before the accident you say. I must say, HORSEHOCKEY! (in honor of Colonel Potter) I have never heard of anywhere the temp has gone up 30 degrees in even 2 hours. I know it can cool off fast but not heat up fast. Just my thoughts.........

 

[Hackman]

I'll assume you meant McDonnell-Douglas.... and if I recall, CO was using the same forklift procedure, and had several pylon damaged aircraft as well which were discovered during the grounding...

[post="286650"][/post]​

My bad, I see large Boeings all day, everyday......scuze me.

 

[Bob Owens]

CaptianBoomer,Aug 8 2005, 01:43 PM]
Hackman:

While cheaper is usually not better, mistakes get made all the time in every MTC shop in this country and abroad......

Sure, but its the percentage that counts. Jet Blue only has around 80 airplanes right? And the average age is less than 5 years old so the hours are low as well. Obviously an airline that has over 800 airplanes and has been operating for 75 years is going to have some history, the odds dictate it.

The USAir 767 engine that exploded on the wing in PHL was maintained by GE. The rumor around was that the disc that came apart was dropped by MTC personnel and they still put it back on the engine......

The UAL DC-10 that crashed in Sioux City...that engine had a defect from manufacture that went unnoticed and then the crack that began to form was missed.......

Yes twenty years later, four times longer than Jet Blue has been in existance.

The DC-10 that crashed at ORD (AA 191) was caused by poor MTC procedures that had their beginning in trying to save time (read...money)...

Thats true, but the mechanics had complained about the prodeedure which they felt was difficult and risky and MD had not approved it either, the FAA did.

Point is, you do the best you can with the procedures you have and you hope that you can catch errors and omissions before they end up being a problem. This goes for all MTC shops, not just the ones in the USA.


And just like with you guys up front the best safety device is a well trained experienced person on the job. If you want that you have to pay.

I seriously doubt that a coil was the sole cause of the fire, there must have been an oil or more likely a fuel leak to fuel the fire. The good thing is that it happened on the ground an no one was hurt.