Thomas Cook A332 at Manchester on Jun 24th 2013, rejected takeoff

Last Update: February 12, 2015 / 13:25:56 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Thomas Cook Airlines G-OMYT, Airbus A330-200 — Thomas Cook Airlines G-OMYT, Airbus A330-200 (Photo credit: markyharky / Flickr / License: CC by)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jun 24, 2013

Classification
Incident

Cause
Rejected takeoff

Airline
Thomas Cook Airlines

Flight number
MT-314

Departure
Manchester, United Kingdom

Destination
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Aircraft Registration
G-OMYT

Aircraft Type
Airbus A330-200

ICAO Type Designator
A332

A Thomas Cook Airbus A330-200, registration G-OMYT performing flight MT-314 from Manchester,EN (UK) to Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) with 325 people on board, rejected takeoff from Manchester's runway 23R at high speed (about 140 knots) after the right hand engine (Trent 772) emitted a loud bang and failed. The aircraft slowed safely and came to a stop at about half way down the runway. Emergency services responded and checked engine and brakes, the aircraft taxied to the apron afterwards where emergency services cooled down the brakes.

A replacement Airbus A330-200 registration G-MDBD departed Manchester 5 hours after the rejected takeoff and is currently estimated to reach Punta Cana with a delay of 6 hours.

The airline confirmed the incident aircraft rejected takeoff due to an engine failure. The engine is currently being examined.

On Jul 2nd 2013 the French BEA reported the takeoff was rejected at 140 knots due to an engine fault. The AAIB have opened an investigation into the occurrence rated a serious incident.

On Dec 12th 2013 the British AAIB reported in their bulletin that the takeoff was rejected at 105 KIAS after a flash and smoke from the right hand engine and associated loss of power. The investigation determined that the right hand engine failed because of the fracture of the a single high pressure turbine blade as result of high cycle fatigue crack propagation, causing an engine surge and damage further downstream into the intermediate and low pressure turbines and nozzles. Although the investigation report didn't name the videographer, it is obvious from the narration they used the Simon Lowe's video shown below as evidence into the investigation, too.

The AAIB reported that both IP (intermediate pressure) and LP (low pressure) spools of the engine became seized as result of debris jammed between turbine rotors and casings during run down of the engine.

The AAIB stated: "Laboratory analysis of the fractured blade root found multiple crack initiation locations caused by Type 2 Sulphidation corrosion. This led to high-cycle fatigue (HCF) propagation, weakening of the blade and subsequent material rupture in tensile overload. In addition, unidentified deposits were present on the surfaces of the blade remains which are the subject of ongoing analysis by the manufacturer."

On Feb 12th 2015 the AAIB released an amendment to their Bulletin reading: "The failure of the HP turbine blade in this incident was caused by high cycle fatigue propagation due to surface damage as a result of Type 2 Sulphidation corrosion. During examination of the remains of the blade, to determine the cause of its failure, unidentified deposits were found on its surfaces. There was concern that these deposits may have been volcanic in origin, in particular from the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, so additional forensic analysis was carried out. That work was completed in August 2014 and did not identify compounds typically associated with volcanic activity. However, although an encounter with volcanic gaseous sulphur cannot be discounted it is concluded that the deposits probably are an accumulation of atmospheric dirt and pollutants."