Kulula B738 near Johannesburg on Mar 7th 2022, engine shut down in flight, contained failure

Last Update: September 10, 2022 / 14:04:08 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Kulula ZS-ZWB, Boeing 737-800 — Kulula ZS-ZWB, Boeing 737-800 (Photo credit: Robin Orchard / Flickr / License: CC by-nd)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Mar 7, 2022

Classification
Incident

Airline
Kulula

Flight number
MN-451

Departure
Lanseria, South Africa

Destination
Cape Town, South Africa

Aircraft Registration
ZS-ZWB

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800

ICAO Type Designator
B738

A Kululu Boeing 737-800, registration ZS-ZWB performing flight MN-451 from Lanseria to Cape Town (South Africa) with 135 passengers and 6 crew, was climbing through FL210 out of Lanseria when the crew reported the failure of the left hand engine (CFM56), shut the engine down and decided to divert to Johannesburg. The aircraft landed safely on runway 03R about 45 minutes after departure.

A passenger reported a loud bang occurred several minutes into the flight. Another passenger reported there was a trail of smoke and significant vibrations.

On Apr 20th 2022 the SACAA reported the occurrence is being investigated by the AIID and stated: "After about 13-15 minutes during the climb phase, passing 21 000 ft, the flight crew heard a loud bang which was followed by the No. 1 engine spooling down by itself accompanied by multiple instrument indications malfunctioning, i.e., N2 was at 0 whilst EGT went to the red box then to 0 as well. The crew followed the relevant memory items, and the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) procedures were completed, and the No.1 left engine was completely shut down (secured). The crew decided to divert to O.R. Tambo Aerodrome (FAOR) and a Mayday was declared with the (FAOR) Air Traffic Control (ATC). The aircraft landed uneventfully at FAOR with a single engine. The passengers disembarked safely with no injuries reported. The No.1 engine had a catastrophic engine failure which was not contained as some of the debris (turbine blade) was ejected via the exhaust, this caused damage to the left horizontal stabiliser leading edge and under the inboard flap of the left wing."

On Sep 10th 2022 the SACAA released their preliminary report reporting the engine failure as "contained" (other than in previous information released) and rating the damage substantial including damage to the leading edge of the left hand stabilizer as well as left hand fuselage, however, rated the occurrence still a serious incident.

The SACAA provided following abstract of the sequence of events:

During climb, as the aircraft passed through flight level (FL) 210, a loud bang which originated from the No.1 engine was heard. The crew deduced that the No.1 engine had failed and they then followed the emergency checklist procedure. The decision was made to divert to O.R. Tambo International Aerodrome (FAOR) where an uneventful single engine landing was carried out. All occupants were not injured during the serious incident; however, the aircraft’s left leading edge horizontal stabiliser and the engine were substantially damaged.

The high pressure turbine had its blades fractured at the blade roots invoking downstream damage in the low pressure turbine, too. There was no damage to the fan, compressors and combustion chamber.