American claims over BA plane in emergency landing drama ‘wrong’

Only one of the engines on the BA Airbus A319, which had to turn back to Heathrow with smoke billowing out, was affected, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.

The information from the US appeared on the website of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) which is assisting the AAIB on the May 24 incident.

The NTSB information on its website said: “An Airbus A319-131, registration number G-EUOE, during departure from London Heathrow International Airport, had the engine cowls (coverings) from both International Aero Engines V2500 engines separate and fall on to the runway.

“The pilots reported that they shut down one engine, there was a fuel leak, and that they were returning. The pilots subsequently reported that one engine was shut down and the other engine was on fire.

“The airplane landed, was shut down, and the passengers were evacuated via the emergency slides.”

A statement on behalf of the AAIB from the UK’s Department for Transport last night said: “The NTSB reported that the Airbus A319 returned to land with one engine shut down and the other on fire. This information is incorrect: only one of the engines was affected.”

With passengers on board and witnesses on the ground seeing smoke coming from the stricken plane, the aircraft landed safely and the 75 passengers and crew were evacuated via emergency chutes.

Three people were treated for minor injuries.