BA 744 Engine Fire Out of JFK

[PhilDernerJr]

Vin just called and said he saw an engine on fire on a BA 744 departing JFK just now.

Anyone have info?

[Futterman]

Just heard Speedbird 116 receive clearance to land on 31L with emergency services standing by. Wow.

[PhilDernerJr]

The pane haslanded, and taxied onto twy papa.

Rwy 31L was closed, adn all traffic moved to the 4's.

[Nycfly75]

Yea I saw everything. I just got off the Belt Parkway and was heading home on Crossbay Blvd when I saw A SpeedBird 744 taking off from 31L with a huge flame and sparks coming out of one of its right side engines. Her velocity was much slower than normal and struggling to gain altitude and the engine continued to stay on fire after the turn out to the ocean around Breezy Pt. After she turned, the pilot appeared to have shut the engine off and I lost sight of her. I drove to the parking area by the North Channel Bridge and you can see all the emergency vehicles. The SpeedBird 744 landed safely on Runway 31L and appeared to have taxiied off 31L on her own power. As I was waiting for her to land, I looked up on a clear night's sky and saw the lights and strobes of several of airplanes apparantly diverted of put into a holding pattern above the skies of JFK..the planes looked like a flock of geese flying above. Runway 31L hs reopened as I hear planes taking off to the right of my house.

[Futterman]

That's wild, Vin. Good eye, and great job on contacting Phil right on the spot. I feel like I'm a part of the Eyewittness News team or something. :)

ACARS data (provided by blendq) looks like the aircraft may be either G-CIVI or G-CIVE. This is unconfirmed information, though.

Brian

[Nycfly75]

Thanks Futt, she was hard to miss, all the traffic on Crossbay Blvd froze as she streaked across...now i know to carry my camera int he car at all times.

[Futterman]

Not sure a camera would've done much good at 11:30pm. :) Keep that camcorder in there, too, though, that'll work!

The A.net thread:
http://www.airliners.net/discussions/ge ... n/2519469/ (http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/2519469/)

[PhilDernerJr]

Wow.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/BAW116

[Matt Molnar]

Quite a week for enthusiasts spotting problems. Day before yesterday someone on a.net saw a Lear crash in California and posted his story.

[Matt Molnar]

http://www.liveatc.net/.archive/kjfk/JF ... 5-2300.mp3 (http://www.liveatc.net/.archive/kjfk/JFK-Twr-Dec-29-05-2300.mp3)

Start at the 22 minute mark and you hear Speedbird 116 instructed to position and hold, about a minute later cleared for takeoff, and another minute later the tower advises that he has flames shooting out. It also becomes apparent that this was a pretty big fire...about 3 1/2 minutes after the first sighting of the fire American 314 on approach advises tower that he still sees flames shooting out of the BA jet. Must have been very scary onboard.

[Futterman]

Here's a transcript of the relevant statements on tower frequency from 2300 to 2330.


12/29/05
SPEEDBIRD 116, ENGINE FIRE
JFK

TRANSCRIPT

Tower (119.10) @ 23:21:54 - SPEEDBIRD ONE SIXTEEN HEAVY, KENNEDY, THREE ONE LEFT POSITION HOLD, EXPECT, UHH, RELEASE AS SOON AS TRAFFIC CLEARS THE RUNWAY, YOU HAVE TRAFFIC SIX OUT.

Speedbird 116 @ 23:22:03 - SPEEDBIRD (...)

Tower (119.10) @ 23:23:02 - SPEEDBIRD ONE SIXTEEN HEAVY, THREE ONE LEFT CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF, (...)

Speedbird 116 @ 23:23:06 - CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF, THREE ONE LEFT, SPEEDBIRD ONE SIXTEEN HEAVY.

Tower (119.10) @ 23:24:08 - SPEEDBIRD ONE SIXTEEN HEAVY, YOU GOT SOME WHAT APPEARS TO BE SOME FLAMES COMING OUT OF ONE OF YOUR ENGINES ON THE LEFT SIDE IT APPEARS.

Speedbird 116 @ 23:24:16 - ONE SIXTEEN.

Unknown @ 23:24:25 - (...) THE LEFT ENGINE.

Tower (119.10) @ 23:24:33 - OKAY, FOUR THIRTY FIVE KNIGHT, CALL DEPARTURE, UHH, SPEEDBIRD ONE SIXTEEN I'M A BRING YOU BACK IN FOR THREE ONE LEFT.

United 840 @ 23:25:09 - I THINK THAT THING'S GONNA BURN OFF.

Tower (119.10) @ 23:25:12 - YEAH.

United 840 @ 23:25:17 - THAT A FOUR HUNDRED?

Tower (119.10) @ 23:25:21 - SAY AGAIN.

United 840 @ 23:25:22 - THAT A SEVEN FOUR FOUR HUNDRED?

Tower (119.10) @ 23:25:25 - UH, SEVEN, YEAH, SEVEN FORTY FOUR.

American 314 @ 23:27:15 - HEY TOWER, HELLO, IT'S AMERICAN THREE FOURTEEN, WE'RE AT, UH, ZULAB BASICALLY FOR THREE ONE RIGHT.

Tower (119.10) @ 23:27:20 - UH, AMERICAN THREE FOURTEEN, THREE ONE RIGHT, YOU'RE CLEARED TO LAND.

American 314 @ 23:27:24 - OKAY, CLEARED TO LAND, UH, I UNDERSTAND YOU STILL HAVE AN EMERGENCY IN PROGRESS?

Tower (119.10) @ 23:27:27 - YES WE DO.

American 314 @ 23:27:31 - OH YEAH, I SEE HIM, HE'S GOT FLAMES COMING OUT!

Tower (119.10) @ 23:27:34 - YEAH, WE KNOW THAT, WE TOLD HIM, AND, UH, WE'RE WORKING WITH HIM.

American 314 @ 23:27:37 - HE KNOWS THAT HE'S GOT FLAMES?

Tower (119.10) @ 23:27:38 - YES.

American 314 @ 23:28:27 - TOWER, TWO THINGS, AMERICAN THREE FOURTEEN, I UNDERSTAND WE'RE CLEARED TO LAND THREE ONE RIGHT, AND ALSO WE DON'T SEE THE FLAMES COMING OUT OF HIS LEFT SIDE ANYMORE.

Tower (119.10) @ 23:28:35 - OKAY, THANK YOU...AND YOU ARE CLEARED TO LAND THREE ONE LEFT...THREE ONE RIGHT.

AmeriCAN 314 @ 23:28:38 - THANK YOU, CLEARED TO LAND THREE ONE RIGHT.

Brian

[lijk604]

These "tapes" are incredible....thank god for technology.