BA 777 Investigation Focuses On Fuel System

By Ian Goold

May 22, 2008
Safety

Aviation safety officials probing the British Airways (BA) Boeing 777 accident at London Heathrow in January are continuing to focus on the fuel system. They want to know why the airplane lost power on final approach to LHR.

The 777, on a long-range flight from Beijing to London, touched down 1,000 feet short of the paved surface of LHR’s Runway 27L before coming to rest astride a taxiway junction near the threshold. One passenger was seriously injured and 12 other occupants among the 152 aboard received minor injuries.

The airplane sustained heavy damage and was subsequently written off. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch recently published a special bulletin that said fuel-system testing was being carried out at Boeing Commercial Airplanes division in Seattle.

As the 777 approached to land, its engines initially responded to an autothrottle command for increased thrust before both experienced a reduction in thrust. Evidence indicated that both engines had “low fuel pressure at the inlet to the high-pressure pump.”

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