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The engine caught
fire as flight BA2276 was about to take off for London. All 157
passengers and 13 crew members escaped down emergency slides,
with only a few minor injuries reported, after the pilot aborted
the takeoff of the Boeing 777 jet and ordered the evacuation.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said a failure
in the plane's GE90 engine was not contained by the engine's
casing and that it had found several pieces of the high pressure
compressor spool on the runway.
If a blade at the front of the engine fails, the casing is
designed to retain it. The NTSB's findings therefore suggest
that the failure was within the internal part of the engine.
"Initial examination of the left engine revealed multiple
breaches of the engine case in the area around the high pressure
compressor," the NTSB said in a statement.
A spokesman for GE in Europe was not immediately available to
comment on Friday. The company has previously said it is
providing assistance to the NTSB.
British Airways said in an emailed statement that it continued
to give the NTSB its full support.
"The safety of our customers and crew is always our highest
priority," the airline said.
(Reporting by Victoria Bryan in Berlin; Additional reporting by
Sarah Young in London; editing by Susan Thomas)
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