A 777 Whatdunit Puzzle

Posted by: Justin Bachman on February 27

It’s the Mystery of the 777 for aviation authorities probing the crash landing of a British Airways flight last month at Heathrow. USA Today published an interesting story about the deeply puzzling questions that have arisen from the investigation thus far.

The plane was landing on Jan. 17 after a flight from Beijing. Both engines lost thrust less than 1,000 from the ground and neither the autopilot nor crew was able to restore power. The plane touched down about 1,000 feet short of the runway. No one died, but 13 people were hurt and the jumbo jet has been written off as a loss. Investigators discovered severe damage to both engine’s fuel pumps, suggesting that the flow of fuel was somehow disrupted, according to this Feb. 25 piece in Flight, a UK-based aviation journal. Human error does not appear to have played a role in the incident – one of the more concerning aspects of the case.

One nagging omission in this case is comment from Boeing (BA), which is providing “technical support” for the British inquiry but is declining to comment for now, company spokesman Jim Proulx says. There’s also been a dearth of detail on what investigators may have learned about the plane’s pre-flight protocol in Beijing. Still, the story is shaping up as one of genuine bafflement at this point. No one has come forward with evidence, for example, that tainted fuel was loaded in China, or that the fuel pumps were somehow suspect. Failure of both engines on a 777 is a situation that, mathematically, is supposed to have a less than one in 1 billion chance of happening, the story notes. In other words, in the real world, it’s not supposed to happen period.

And that, ultimately, could prove to be the most significant issue in the case. The 777 is a workhorse for the world’s airlines, an economical and passenger-friendly model that has assumed a valued role in long-haul fleets since it entered service 13 years ago. If its engines can suddenly stop, and no is yet certain why, that spells more than a mystery. It could be a catastrophe.