A video has surfaced today on LiveLeak, of the engine cowling falling off a Sky Airline Airbus A319 taking off from Santiago International Airport in Chile.
Here’s the video:
As you’d expect, the plane had to return to the airport for an emergency landing.
Whoever uploaded the video to LiveLeak is exaggerating a bit when they say “the engine rips apart.” Instead, the cowling just wasn’t latched correctly before departure, and flew off. So it wasn’t the engine as such, but rather just one of the coverings.
This also isn’t the first time this has happened, as I recall seeing this several times on similar narrowbody Airbus aircraft. The airline insists passengers weren’t at risk, and I’m no expert at aviation safety, so I don’t want to say that isn’t true. That being said, I’d have to assume that if the engine cowling flies off and hits the plane in the wrong way/at the wrong time/in the wrong place, it could indeed have some grave results, no?
Fortunately everyone was okay, and passengers were rebooked on another flight.
Quite a video, nonetheless!
(Tip of the hat to Todd)
I wonder if the pilots got an indication that this happened (warning light, flight affected) or did they have to rely on a passenger report?
RagTop69 - You're the second person to say liberal. Does the US genuinely see them as liberal? In their UK home they're regarded as almost ultra-right wing conservative. So much so that large swathes of the population won't even touch it!
While the Daily Mail may not be as liberal as some other news sources, the "engine rips apart" and "part of an airplane wing horrifyingly falls off" does not exactly cast the most positive picture of the press. Shows you what happens when you achieve a high degree in a field that is relatively useless. Remember when this sort of "reporting" was handled over the back fence by gossips?
Danger to the plane taking off one minute behind this plane
To a layman.... like most reporters, it does look like it rips apart.
Plus, they want clicks.
Bingo.
But, seriously, rips apart?
Uh yeah, where are there fan blades flying around?
My dad was scared when he saw the video but just by flying on my computer and loving planes, and researching for years, I know it is not too serious.
Those wings were probably full of fuel. So, yeah, they are extremely lucky things worked out the way they did.
They are very luck, the broken piece does not cause further damage.
The broken pieces killef hundreds of lives, including United Airlines Flight 232.
Could this not have had more dire consequences if the cowling had impacted the wing or the empennage when it dislodged?
ME - troll miss kick. Umpires call referral to Daily Mail as Liberal Media an own goal. play continues.
That's nothing...look at this terribly misleading headline:
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/watch-a-part-of-an-airplane-wing-horrifyingly-fall-off-1736668876
Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
"Engine rips apart"--gotta love the liberal press.
Even if the way it broke off didn't endanger them, the fact that the maintenance department made that kind of mistake makes the situation dangerous. What else are they forgetting?
The cowling incident on British Airways 2 years ago caused an engine fire: http://avherald.com/h?article=462beb5e
I guess once the incident passes, it's easy to say there was "no danger". The question is, what is the danger in the future if these kinds of mistake are made?
BTW.
Other side must have ripped off during the rest of the flight before landing as shown in this picture.
http://avherald.com/h?article=48dca107&opt=0
They were lucky it was such a clean break when it happened. Could have been a lot worse.
Still though...a lot of these incidents happening lately. tut tut