British Airways’ burnt 777 to fly again


Lots of smoke damage visible. Note that the slide at 2L was not used for evac; 2R was suggesting the fire was the left engine.

The British Airways 777-200ER which caught fire at Las Vegas in September is going to fly again. Following on the NTSB incident report which suggested that the “left engine and pylon, left fuselage structure and inboard left wing … were substantially damaged by the fire” the carrier says that it has completed its inspection and, along with Boeing, believes the repair costs are reasonable enough to avoid scrapping the hull. The damage is now being described as “limited and suitable for repair.”

Closer view of the damage on the left side of the plane
View of the damage on the left side of the plane

It is expected that initial repair work will take place at McCarran, including the installation of a new engine and some hull repair. The aircraft will then be flown to a maintenance facility where additional work will be performed before a return to commercial service.

Count me amongst those surprised by this move. With the cost of used 777s plummeting on the open market I had guessed that it would be cheaper to scrap this one rather than pay to repair and recertify it, and I was not alone in that prediction. Oopsie.

Read More: British Airways BA2276 Catches Fire at Las Vegas

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Seth Miller

I'm Seth, also known as the Wandering Aramean. I was bit by the travel bug 30 years ago and there's no sign of a cure. I fly ~200,000 miles annually; these are my stories. You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

6 Comments

  1. I’m very glad no one was killed in that mess…if this thing flies again it should be nicknamed the ‘burnin ring of fire’…and so sorry to make light of this but for some reason it comes to mind whenever I see these pictures…

  2. I have a feeling the toasted engine would be more than $7.7 million. But I guess BA must have spare engines in stock

    1. Maybe GE is paying for the engine since that’s what failed? Or it is just part of the cost of doing business.

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