Fuel system remains focus of investigation into BA 777 crash | Aviation International News

Fuel system remains focus of investigation into BA 777 crash

Safety officials probing the circumstances leading to the January 17 accident of a British Airways (BA) Boeing 777 at London Heathrow are continuing to foc

By Ian Goold • Senior correspondent

June 2, 2008

Safety officials probing the circumstances leading to the January 17 accident of a British Airways (BA) Boeing 777 at London Heathrow are continuing to focus on the fuel system. In particular, they want to know why the aircraft lost power when it was on final approach.

The 777, operating as flight BA038, was flying nonstop from Beijing to London Heathrow. The flight was uneventful and the engine operation was normal until the final approach. As the 777 approached to land, the R-R Trent 895 engines initially responded to an autothrottle command for increased thrust. At a height of about 720 feet, thrust on the right engine reduced to about 1.03 times the engine pressure ratio (EPR), followed about seven seconds later by a similar reduction (1.02 EPR) on the left engine.

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