Etihad B773 at Abu Dhabi on Sep 27th 2016, engine shut down in flight as result of nose tyre tread separation

Last Update: October 18, 2018 / 14:31:45 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Sep 27, 2016

Classification
Incident

Flight number
EY-450

Aircraft Registration
A6-ETL

Aircraft Type
Boeing 777-300

ICAO Type Designator
B773

An Etihad Airways Boeing 777-300, registration A6-ETL performing flight EY-450 from Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) to Sydney,NS (Australia) with 329 passengers, was in the initial climb out of Abu Dhabi's runway 13R when the crew stopped the climb at 4000 feet due to problems with the left hand engine (GE90) and returned to Abu Dhabi. Cabin crew instructed the passengers to brace for landing. The aircraft landed safely on runway 13L (at about 209 knots over ground) about 30 minutes after departure. The aircraft stopped at the end of the runway and was inspected by emergency services. The captain called the crew on station immediately after roll out.

A passenger reported that about 5 minutes after landing the captain announced there had been a problem with the left hand engine, that's why emergency services were surrounding the aircraft. The captain apologized for "being busy" earlier.

Another passenger reported when they disembarked they could see the tyres were deflated.

As result of the occurrence the airport was closed for about 30 minutes causing a number of arriving flights to enter holding patterns and even divert, then the second runway entered service again. Runway 13L remained closed for 13.5 hours due to the disabled aircraft.

On Sep 28th 2016 the airline reported the aircraft returned to Abu Dhabi following the failure of one of the aircraft engines.

A replacement Boeing 777-300 registration A6-ETO reached Sydney with a delay of 10:45 hours.

On Sep 28th 2016 The Aviation Herald received information that the tread of left nose wheel tyre separated from the tyre and impacted the Avionics Door so hard, that the door buckled open. The rubber bounced off the door and went through the left hand engine causing an engine surge and bang during rotation. With a gross weight of 346.5 tons the crew determined Vref at 196 KIAS and Vapp at 201 KIAS. Following landing 11 of 12 main tyres deflated after their fuse plugs melted.

On Oct 7th 2016 the airline reported that one of the nose wheel tyres lost the outer tread, the tread impacted the fuselage causing skin damage. Part of the tread were ingested by the left hand engine causing damage to fan blades and the core of the engine, the engine was shut down in flight and the aircraft returned for an overweight landing, which resulted in the deflation of the main tyres. UAE's Civil Aviation Authority GCAA have opened an investigation into the occurrence.

On Oct 18th 2018 the GCAA released their final report concluding the probable cause of the serious incident was:

The shedding of the No.1 nose wheel tire tread occurred as a result of the tire contacting foreign object debris. Subsequently, the damaged tire debris was ingested by the No.1 engine causing engine failure.

The GCAA reported while the aircraft was accelerating towards Vr vibrations were felt in the cockpit. 54 seconds after the takeoff commenced, at a speed of 196 KIAS, a loud bang was heard and an EICAS message "L ENG FAILURE" occurred, the left hand EGT was high, the vibrations changed from less than 1 to 5 units and the left hand N1 dropped from 102 to below 31.8%. The engine "auto shut down".

The crew declared Mayday, ATC initiated a runway inspection, the inspection found tyre debris on the runway, ATC advised the crew accordingly.

The crew identified a nose landing gear problem, however declined a low approach to have the nose gear inspected from the ground. The crew prepared for a single engine overweight landing on runway 13L, Vapp was determined at 201 KIAS, auto brakes setting 4 was used.

The aircraft touched down 1280 meters past the runway threshold and came to a stop after travelling 2590 meters with 230 meters of runway remaining. Due to the high speed landing the brakes temperatures increased, all main tyre fuses melted and all main tyres deflated.

Both nose tyres remained inflated, the left nose tyre however had lost its tread.

The GCAA described the damage to the aircraft: "The Aircraft suffered damage to the lower fuselage, aft of the NLG bay. The No.1 engine fan blades and engine inlet sustained damage and the nose gear steering cable was damaged. In addition, there was evidence of tire debris impact on the inboard fan cowling of the No.2 engine. More than 90% of the outer layer of the No.1 nose wheel tire tread had separated and disintegrated. Following the landing, all of the main gear tires were found to be deflated. The nose wheel tires remained inflated. There was no damage to the main gear wheel hubs. On separation of the No.1 nose wheel tire tread, the tread broke up and pieces impacted several areas of the Aircraft. Tire debris struck the lower fuselage aft of the NLG bay, the No.1 engine, and the inboard fan cowling of the No.2 engine. The No.1 engine suffered foreign object damage (FOD), following ingestion of liberated tread which subsequently caused an uncommanded in-flight shutdown (IFSD) shortly after takeoff. The No.2 engine inboard fan cowling was struck by tire debris, but the cowling was not damaged. No tire debris was ingested by the No.2 engine."

The GCAA analysed:

As the Aircraft was rotated during takeoff at V2 speed, as the nose gear was lifting off the runway, the No.1 nose wheel tire tread separated from the tire. Pieces of the separated outer layer impacted and damaged the lower fuselage aft of the NLG bay and several pieces were ingested by the No.1 engine. Tire debris also struck the No.2 engine inboard fan cowling. The No.1 engine sustained damage to the fan, compressor, and hot section.

The ingested tire debris caused the No.1 engine to automatically shut down. The No.2 engine fan cowling was undamaged and no tire debris was ingested. Following the tread separation, the No.1 nose wheel tire remained inflated.

Although, in the Incident flight the pushback was conducted using a conventional tug and tow-bar combination, the examination of the damaged tire revealed that the initiation point of the tire outer layer separation resulted from either an FOD encounter, or from a tire cut caused by a towbarless tug. Therefore, this initiation point of the tire outer layer cut could be happened in one of the recent previous flights in any one of the airports used by the Aircraft.

A detailed search of the taxi route followed by the Aircraft, and of the runway and surrounding area, did not locate any item of possible FOD.

The GCAA analysed the crew actions: "The flight crew followed the Operator’s procedures in dealing with all aspects of the event and for a single engine overweight landing."

Related NOTAM:
A1456/16 NOTAMN
Q) OMAE/QMRXX/IV/NBO/A/000/999/2426N05439E005
A) OMAA B) 1609270945 C) 1609272130
E) RWY 13L/31R NOT AVBL DUE TO DISABLED ACFT.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Sep 27, 2016

Classification
Incident

Flight number
EY-450

Aircraft Registration
A6-ETL

Aircraft Type
Boeing 777-300

ICAO Type Designator
B773

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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