B773, Abu Dhabi UAE, 2016

B773, Abu Dhabi UAE, 2016

Summary

On 27 September 2016, the left engine of a Boeing 777-300 failed on takeoff from Abu Dhabi after it ingested debris resulting from tread separation from one of the nose landing gear tyres and a successful overweight return to land then followed. The Investigation found that FOD damage rather than any fault with the manufacture or re-treading of the tyre had initiated tread separation and also noted the absence of any assessment of the risk of engine damage and failure from such debris ingestion which it was noted had the potential to have affected both engines rather than just one.

Description

On 27 September 2016, the left GE90-115B engine of a Boeing 777-300 (A6-ETL) being operated by Etihad Airways on an international passenger flight from Abu Dhabi to Sydney as EY450 failed during takeoff shortly after rotation in day VMC. After completing the takeoff and declaring a MAYDAY to ATC, tyre debris was discovered on the runway and reported to the augmented flight crew who identified that they had a nose landing gear problem. The subsequent return to land was uneventful although nose wheel steering was unavailable because of damage to the nose wheel steering system and the aircraft was stopped on the runway. After confirmation that there was no fire, occupants were disembarked on the runway using steps positioned at exits on the right hand side.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the UAE GCAA Air Accident Investigation Sector. The aircraft CVR and DFDR were removed and their data successfully downloaded.

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