British Airtours Flight 28M
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 22, 1985 |
| Type | Engine fire on ground |
| Site | Manchester, England |
| Fatalities | 55 |
| Injuries | 15 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-236 |
| Operator | British Airtours |
| Tail number | G-BGJL |
| Passengers | 131 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Survivors | 82 |
On August 22, 1985, Flight 28M, a British Airtours Boeing 737-236 took off from Manchester International Airport in Manchester in England, on an international passenger flight to Kerkira Airport on the Greek island of Corfu. The aircraft, previously named "Goldfinch" but at the time of the accident named "River Orrin", had 131 passengers and 6 crew on the manifest.
During the takeoff phase, the captain heard a brief, loud thumping noise coming from under the plane. Thinking a tyre had burst, he abandoned takeoff and activated the thrust reversers. As the Boeing 737 stopped, the crew discovered that the No. 1 engine was on fire. The subsequent investigation into the incident revealed that the No. 9 combustor on the port engine was somehow ejected from the engine, fracturing the fuel tank access panel, which caused the fire.
After braking the plane was steered and came to rest off to the right of the Runway into a slight prevailing wind. Fire found its way into the cabin, creating toxic smoke and causing the deaths of 53 passengers and two crew, 48 of them from smoke inhalation. 78 passengers and 4 crew escaped, 15 were seriously injured.
[edit] Impact on air safety
The incident raised serious air safety concerns over survivability and the standard aircraft emergency evacuation time of ninety seconds — the last passenger was not able to escape from Flight 28M for more than five minutes. It also resulted in widespread calls for the introduction of smoke hoods to enable passengers to survive long enough to reach the exits; only 6 out of the 55 people died because of heat. This idea was rejected as impractical by the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority. A subsequent idea of installing cabin misting systems (similar to a sprinkler system) was also rejected as being too expensive.
