Hans Griffioen Editor

Air Crash Investigations Eye of the Needle the Crash of British Airways Flight 38 Hans Griffioen Editor

On 28 November 2008, a Boeing 777-200Er, operated by British Airways as flight Ba38, on its way from Beijing, China to London (Heathrow), suffered on approach to Heathrow Airport an in-flight engine rollback. At 720 feet agl, the right engine ceased responding to autothrottle commands for increased power and instead the power reduced to 1.03 Engine Pressure Ratio (Epr). Seven seconds later the left engine power reduced to 1.02 Epr. This reduction led to a loss of airspeed and the aircraft touching down some 330 m short of the paved surface of Runway 27L at London Heathrow. The investigation identified that the reduction in thrust was due to restricted fuel flow to both engines. It was determined that the restriction occurred most probably in the Fuel Oil Heat Exchangers. The investigation identified the forming of ice in the fuel system as probable cause. The aircraft was destroyed, but there were no casualties.