A Boeing cargo airliner made an emergency landing in Florida on Thursday night after what its operator called “an engine malfunction” occurred shortly after takeoff, in the latest setback for the beleaguered company. A gaping hole where a paneled-over door had been at the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Sunday 7 January 2024 Boeing opens factories to airlines and adds more checks after blowout Read more
Video taken by an eyewitness and posted to social media showed the 747-8 aircraft trailing flames and sparks from its left wing as it circled back to land at Miami international airport at about 10.30pm.
The operator, New York-based Atlas Air, said the plane “experienced an engine malfunction soon after departure”. Its crew of five “followed all standard procedures and safely returned” to the airport, it said in a statement, adding it would conduct a “thorough inspection to determine the cause”.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Friday it would be investigating the incident, adding that the eight-year-old Boeing 747-8 aircraft was heading for Puerto Rico. Its preliminary report stated that an inspection after the flight had landed revealed a “softball-sized hole” above one of its four engines, but did not specify when or how it occurred.
The plane, colloquially known as a jumbo jet, is equipped with four General Electric GEnx engines. The pilot reported a fire in the left wing engine closest to the fuselage, according to cockpit audio of the emergency call.
All of these airplane malfunction stories coming out in recent weeks are exactly the thing I wanted to see leading up to my flight tomorrow for the first real vacation I’ve had since before COVID. Thanks Universe.
Listen to some Alanis Morissette to calm your nerves.
You’re not nice
Isn’t it ironic?
What is with the first paragraph of the summary?
Not a good few years for Boeing.
To be fair, the engines are usually made by General Electric or Rolls Royce.
Sure, but they were still on a Boeing aircraft.
Tell me you know nothing about aviation management without telling me you know nothing about aviation management.
Imagine blaming your car manufacturer for a flat tire when you hit a pothole or something. Or you didn’t pay attention to the tire pressure light.
Engine failure could be caused by ingesting things or poor maintenance. There’s zero chance Boeing has anything to do with it.
Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing’s 737 Factory in Renton, Washington, raised concerns to his supervisors about the dangerously unstable production environment and risks to the safety of airplanes.
Ed recommended Boeing leadership shutdown production operations before both crashes, but sadly he was ignored.
He is determined to shine a light on the truth to help avoid future tragedies.
Source: edpierson.com
What the hell.
Gotta get the shareholders profits up. Fuck safety. Safety cost money and money goes to the shareholders.
That’s not how commercial aviation works.
It shouldn’t, but it seems it does for Boeing, hence news. That said, I expect Boeing failures to be overreported for a while now.
It’s a GE engine, maintained by Atlas Air, and the whole thing could be explained by ingesting a bird or drone.
Gonna have to rule out a lot of more likely suspects to lay this at Boeing’s feet.
Boeing doesn’t make the engines.
Thank you. Everyone is very calm lol
It is easy to lose one engine when you’ve got three more.
Yeah, losing an engine is not uncommon. Pilots train for much more serious issues than losing the left inboard engine of a lightly-loaded 4-engine aircraft in calm, clear weather.
Here’s a similar situation from awhile back, where the pilot felt the situation didn’t even warrant an “emergency” declaration.
Isn’t there a requirement that aircraft have to be able to make an unpowered landing?
Definitely.
There’s various ways to do it. Most large aircraft have a tiny turbine engine in the tail called an Auxiliary Power Unit they can turn on to provide power and hydraulic pressure to control the plane in the event all engines are lost.
Even if they don’t have an APU available, all large aircraft have a Ram Air Turbine, which is basically a windmill that pops out of the fuselage. The RAT spins in the airstream, providing power and hydraulic pressure.
Read up on the “Gimli Glider” and “Cactus 1549” for two prominent examples of jets becoming gliders.
The only reason you’d land in Florida.
Oh well there’s the problem right there, the engine is spraying out flames.
E: Wow that’s really burning. Any pilots know why it seems so on fire? Why didn’t the fire extinguishers work?
I’m no engineer but it’s probably got something to do with the softball sized hole in the engine near the fuselage. And I think you’re right about the flames that are spraying out being part of the problem. I mean it looks cool, but it can’t be safe to fly your plane around like that.
Critically, is the hole from something punching in or out?
Most likely. Great observation.
