Flight Without Fatality: NTSB releases new information on Boeing 787 engine fire
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently released an update on their investigation into the contained engine failure of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner that occurred during a pre-delivery taxi test and started a grass fire at Charleston International Airport on July 28, 2012. No people were injured.
While the investigation remains ongoing, the NTSB has determined that a fan mid-shaft fractured in the failed engine. This part will continue to undergo several detailed examinations, along with the engine manufacturing and assembly records.
"It's good news in the long run for Boeing, and it's certainly great news for passengers, whenever you have a problem like this that is resolved without any injury or loss of life. That's a win-win, and that's what we want. We want flight without fatality—that's the goal of all aviation and certainly the goal of Boeing, and this will help them get that," said aviation attorney and former U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General Mary Schiavo in an Aug. 8 interview with ABC News 4 (WCIV) about the incident.
Shiavo gave an update to Charleston's Channel 2 on the investigation after the NTSB asked the FAA to inspect Boeing planes being manufactured in North Charleston. She said that these types of issues aren't that uncommon. "This sounds exceedingly bad, but it really isn't," she said. "All new planes and all new engines go through a time when the bugs are worked out."
Read about Motley Rice's aviation lawyers and how they work to protect passenger rights and fight on behalf of victims' family members and injured plane crash survivors.