Accidents
NTSB: BA 777 Suffered Uncontained Engine Failure
HPC failure shed fragments that breached engine case and cowling
The NTSB continues its investigation into an uncontained engine failure aboard a British Airways Boeing 777-200ER in Las Vegas. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-ND) by Hawkwindzoo - Steve Walsh)
The NTSB continues its investigation into an uncontained engine failure aboard a British Airways Boeing 777-200ER in Las Vegas. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-ND) by Hawkwindzoo - Steve Walsh)

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board confirmed on Tuesday that the British Airways Boeing 777-200ER that caught fire during its takeoff roll at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport on September 8 suffered an uncontained engine failure. Examination of the GE90-85B engine revealed that a portion of the stage 8-10 spool in the high-pressure compressor (HPC) section had failed, shedding fragments that breached the engine case and cowling. Investigators recovered more pieces of the HPC spool from inside the engine for metallurgical examination.