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Safety team probes cause of BA jet fire
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Federal safety investigators are trying to determine what caused a British airliner’s left engine to burst into flames as it hurtled down a Las Vegas runway, forcing the pilot to abort the takeoff and passengers to flee the burning plane.
Passengers on the London-bound Flight 2276 reported hearing two loud booms Tuesday before flames and the smell of burning rubber sent them dashing to the evacuation slides, unsure if they were fleeing a bomb or a blown tire.
As bad as it looked, it could have been much worse. The British Airways 777-200 was filled with fuel for its journey but didn’t explode.
The 157 passengers and 13 crew members escaped as fire crews sprayed foam to push flames away from those fleeing. Injuries were mostly bumps, bruises and scrapes from sliding out an airplane.
Investigators are now trying to discover what caused the engine fire.
“We’re interested in the exact chain of events,” said National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Eric Weiss.
Airport director Rosemary Vassiliadis said there was “no indication whatsoever” that terrorism played a role.
The plane had two GE90 engines made by GE Aviation.
It was built in 1998 and registered to British Airways a year later. By the end of 2013, it had been flown for 76,618 hours, said the British Civil Aviation Authority.
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