British Airways flight 38 crash

17 January 2008; British Airways 777; G-YMMM; flight 38; London, England: During final approach to London's Heathrow, the aircraft engines from Beijing, China, at 720 feet agl, the right engine of G-YMMM ceased responding to autothrottle commands for increased power and instead the power reduced on both engines. This reduction led to a loss of airspeed and the aircraft touched about1000 feet (330m) short of the runway.

The aircraft skidded just over 1000 feet, tearing off its landing gear and coming to rest on the tarmac just to the right of the end of the runway. This was a scheduled international flight that was arriving from Beijing, China. There were 16 crew members and 136 passengers on board, and one passenger sustained a serious injury.

This was the first serious accident for the 777 since it began commercial service in 1995. The investigating authority concluded that the loss of engine control was due to a fuel system blockage caused by ice that formed in the fuel system.

Map of Accident Area at London's Heathrow Airport

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In the final report on the accident, the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), the lead agency in this investigation, came to a number of conclusions:

The flight was normal until the aircraft was on final approach and about two miles (3.2 km) from touchdown on runway 27L, when the aircraft was about 720 feet above the ground.
Engines initially responded to autothrust commands to increase thrust during final approach.
About seven seconds later, thrust on left engine reduced to similar levels.
The flight crew manually advanced throttles, but engines still did not respond.
Engines continued to produce thrust above flight idle but below the commanded level.
The aircraft touched down in a grassy area about 1,000 feet short of the runway.
There is no indication that the engines ingested either ice or birds, or that there was signficant amounts of water in the fuel.
The fuel temperature experienced during the flight was unusually low, but within the operational range of the aircraft.
Recorded data indicate adequate fuel and autothrottle and engine controls performed as expected prior to, and after, reduction of thrust.

For more information on the investigation, including a link to the final report, please review the information listed below.

Accident Investigation Update
March 2009

Interim findings from the AAIB accident investigation that were released in March 2009 point to ice buildup in the fuel system as the key factor in the January 2008 crash of a British Airways 777 in London. The same month, the NTSB called for a redesign of the fuel system, and for the affected aircraft to have those changes installed within six months after the redesign is complete.

Watch or listen to the full AirSafe.com report below, or read the transcript
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