Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 27 May 2016 |
Summary | Uncontained engine failure due to maintenance error and pilot error |
Site | Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Boeing 777-3B5 |
Operator | Korean Air |
IATA flight No. | KE2708 |
ICAO flight No. | KAL2708 |
Call sign | KOREAN AIR 2708 |
Registration | HL7534 |
Flight origin | Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan |
Destination | Gimpo Airport, Seoul, South Korea |
Occupants | 319 |
Passengers | 302 |
Crew | 17 |
Fatalities | 0 |
Injuries | 12 |
Survivors | 319 |
On 27 May 2016, a Boeing 777-300 of Korean Air, operating as Korean Air Flight 2708 [1] from Haneda Airport in Tokyo to Seoul's Gimpo International Airport, was accelerating for take off when its left engine suffered an uncontained failure and a substantial fire ensued. The crew aborted the take-off, and after the aircraft came to a stop the fire was extinguished by the airport emergency services. All 319 passengers and crew were evacuated; 9 occupants received minor injuries. [2] [3] The accident was attributed to poor maintenance standards and failure of the crew to carry out the emergency procedures correctly.
The aircraft operating Flight 2708 was a Boeing 777-3B5 [a] equipped with two Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines, registered HL7534, serial number 27950. The 120th Boeing 777 produced, it first flew on 4 February 1998, and was delivered new to Korean Air on 28 December 1999. [4]
The 49-year-old captain had logged a total of 10,410 flight hours, including 3,205 hours on the Boeing 777. The 41-year-old first officer had 5,788 hours with 2,531 of them on the Boeing 777. [5] : 10–11
As the aircraft was taking off from Runway 34R at Tokyo Haneda, the pilots heard a loud bang from the left. The pilots aborted the takeoff and the aircraft came to a stop, whereupon an evacuation commenced. All the occupants escaped, but 9 passengers received minor injuries and were taken to a hospital near the airport. Incoming flights were diverted to Tokyo's Narita International Airport and to Osaka. The airport firefighters quickly extinguished the fire. [6] The aircraft reportedly travelled 700 metres down the runway before coming to a stop, with engine-parts scattered 600 metres from the point at which the aircraft began accelerating and tire-marks 700 metres from that point. [7]
Because of the incident, all four runways of Haneda Airport was closed, impacting a total of at least 36,000 passengers. [8] Among the impacted was Toshinao Nakagawa, who was supposed to attend US President Barack Obama's speech at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum as one of the elected officials of Hiroshima Prefecture. Nakagawa was unable to make the trip due to his flight being cancelled as a result of this accident. [9] [10]
The Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB), the South Korean Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB), and the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) all investigated the accident, with assistance from experts in South Korea and the United States. On 30 May 2016, investigators revealed that the low-pressure turbine blades on the left (number one) Pratt & Whitney PW4090 engine had "shattered", with fragments piercing the engine cover, with fragments subsequently found on the runway. The engine's high-pressure turbine blades and high-pressure compressor were intact and free of abnormalities, and investigators found no evidence of a bird strike. [11] [12]
The aircraft was repaired and returned to service with Korean Air on 3 June 2016. [13]
The final JTSB investigative report, released on 26 July 2018, discussed a significant number of problems related to the failure and the response of the crew and passengers to it. These included poor maintenance standards that overlooked a crack growing in the LP turbine disc in the engine created by metal fatigue that eventually failed, the failure of the crew to locate the list of emergency procedures for use in such an emergency, beginning evacuation of the aircraft whilst the engines were still running meaning there was a risk of passengers being blown away by the engines, and passengers ignoring instructions to leave luggage behind when using the evacuation slides risking piercing of the slides. [14] As a result of the fire, the FAA issued an Airworthiness Directive mandating inspection of engines of the type involved in the fire to evaluate the condition of the components which failed on Flight 2708. [5] : 56
Gimpo International Airport, sometimes referred to as Seoul–Gimpo International Airport but formerly rendered in English as Kimpo International Airport, is located in the far western end of Seoul, some 15 kilometres (9 mi) west of the central district of Seoul.
The Pratt & Whitney PW4000 is a family of dual-spool, axial-flow, high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines produced by Pratt & Whitney as the successor to the JT9D. It was first run in April 1984, was FAA certified in July 1986, and was introduced in June 1987. With thrust ranging from 50,000 to 99,040 lbf, it is used on many wide-body aircraft.
Japan Air System Co., Ltd. (JAS) was the smallest of the big three Japanese airlines. In contrast to the other two, JAL and ANA, JAS' international route network was very small, but its domestic network incorporated many smaller airports that were not served by the two larger airlines. As an independent company, it was last headquartered in the JAS M1 Building at Haneda Airport in Ōta, Tokyo. It has since merged with Japan Airlines.
Naha Airport is an international airport located 4 km (2.5 mi) west of the city hall in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is Japan's sixth busiest airport and the primary air terminal for passengers and cargo traveling to and from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It handles scheduled international traffic to Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and mainland China. The airport is also home to Naha Air Base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.
Chitose Air Base, is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base located in Chitose, Hokkaidō, adjacent to New Chitose Airport. It is the JASDF's primary base in northern Japan and tasked with monitoring Japan's maritime borders with Russia. It was also Hokkaidō's primary civilian airport until the opening of New Chitose Airport in 1988. Together, these two jointly operated and connected airports create one of the largest regional airports in Japan.
The article describes accidents and incidents on Korean Air and its predecessor companies Korean National Airlines and Korean Air Lines.
Asiana Airlines Flight 733 was a domestic Asiana Airlines passenger flight from Seoul-Gimpo International Airport to Mokpo Airport, South Korea. The Boeing 737 crashed on 26 July 1993, in the Hwawon area of Haenam County, South Jeolla Province. The cause of the accident was determined to be pilot error leading to controlled flight into terrain. 68 of the 116 passengers and crew on board were killed. The crash resulted in the first hull loss of a 737-500.
As of December 2024, a total of 64 Boeing 747 aircraft, or just above 4% of the total number of 747s built, first flown commercially in 1970, have been involved in accidents and incidents resulting in a hull loss, meaning that the aircraft was either destroyed or damaged beyond economical repair. Of the 64 Boeing 747 aircraft losses, 32 resulted in no loss of life; in one, a hostage was murdered; and in one, a terrorist died.
FedEx Express Flight 80 was a scheduled cargo flight from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in China, to Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. On March 23, 2009, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (N526FE) operating the flight crashed at 6:48 am JST, while attempting a landing on Runway 34L in gusty wind conditions. The aircraft became destabilized at flare and touchdown resulting in an unrecovered "bounced" landing with structural failure of the landing gear and airframe following pilot error due to poor training for bounced landings. The plane came to rest off the runway, inverted, and burning fiercely. The captain and first officer, the jet's only occupants, were both killed.
The Japan Transport Safety Board is Japan's authority for establishing transportation safety. It is a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).
Haneda Airport, sometimes referred to as Tokyo-Haneda, is the busier of the two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary domestic base of Japan's two largest airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, as well as RegionalPlus Wings Corp., Skymark Airlines, and StarFlyer. It is located in Ōta, Tokyo, 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) south of Tokyo Station. The facility covers 1,522 hectares of land.
Air France has been in operation since 1933. Its aircraft have been involved in a number of major accidents and incidents. The deadliest accident of the airline occurred on June 1, 2009, when Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-203, flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean with 228 fatalities. A selected list of the most noteworthy of these events is given below.
Southwest Air Lines Flight 611 was a scheduled flight from Naha to Ishigaki. On 26 August 1982, the Boeing 737-200 overran the runway while attempting to land. The aircraft caught fire and was destroyed, but none of the 133 passengers and 5 crew died in the accident although two crew and one passenger were seriously injured.
Korean Air Flight 8702, operated by a Boeing 747-400, departed Tokyo, Narita International Airport on 5 August 1998 at 16:50 for a flight to Seoul, scheduled to arrive there at 19:20. Bad weather, including heavy rainfall, at Seoul forced the flight crew to divert to Jeju. The aircraft took off from Jeju at 21:07 for Seoul. The flight was cleared to land on runway 14R with a crosswind component as the wind was from 220 degrees at 22 knots. Upon touchdown, the aircraft rolled off the runway. The aircraft slid into a ditch. The undercarriage was destroyed by the impact and the fuselage split. After the accident, the inside of the aircraft caught fire, but all the occupants were able to evacuate the aircraft.
British Airways Flight 2276 was a scheduled international passenger service from Las Vegas to London. On 8 September 2015, the Boeing 777-200ER operating the flight suffered an uncontained engine failure and fire in the left (#1) GE90 engine during take-off from Las Vegas-McCarran International Airport, prompting an aborted take-off and the evacuation of all passengers and crew. All 170 people on board survived, but 20 were injured.
Emirates Flight 521 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Thiruvananthapuram, India, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, operated by Emirates using a Boeing 777-300. On 3 August 2016 the aircraft, carrying 282 passengers and 18 crew, crashed while landing at Dubai International Airport.
American Airlines Flight 383 was a scheduled passenger flight from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois to Miami International Airport. On October 28, 2016, the Boeing 767-300ER operating the flight suffered an engine fire during takeoff. The crew aborted their takeoff, evacuating everyone on board, of whom 21 were injured. The plane was a write-off.
On February 20, 2021, United Airlines Flight 328 (UA328/UAL328), a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight from Denver to Honolulu, suffered what was technically ruled a contained engine failure despite shedding large pieces of debris, approximately four minutes after takeoff from Denver International Airport (DEN). Parts departing from the engine cowling of the Boeing 777-222 aircraft resulted in a debris field at least 1 mile (1.6 km) long over suburban residential areas of Broomfield, Colorado. Falling debris was recorded by eyewitnesses using smartphone cameras and a dash cam. Debris fell through the roof of a private home and significantly damaged a parked vehicle.
On 2 January 2024, a runway collision occurred at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, involving an Airbus A350-900, operating Japan Airlines Flight 516 (JAL516), and a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q300 operated by the Japan Coast Guard (JA722A). Japan Airlines Flight 516 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from New Chitose Airport near Sapporo, Japan, to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. The Coast Guard plane was scheduled to deliver relief supplies a day after the 2024 Noto earthquake.