VT-ESM, the accident aircraft |
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| Incident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 4 September 2009 |
| Type | Engine fire |
| Site | Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai |
| Passengers | 213 |
| Crew | 16 |
| Injuries | 21 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 229 |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 747-437 |
| Aircraft name | Konark |
| Operator | Air India |
| Tail number | VT-ESM |
| Flight origin | Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai |
| Destination | King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh |
Air India Flight 829 was a Boeing 747-437 which caught fire on the ground at Mumbai, India on 4 September 2009. A successful emergency evacuation was carried out with 21 minor injuries.
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The Aircraft involved was a Boeing 747-437, registration VT-ESM, c/n 27078.[1] The aircraft made its first flight on 2 July 1993 and was delivered to Air India on 4 August 1993, serving with Air India since that date.[2]
Air India Flight 829 was scheduled to depart to Riyadh at 04:30 local time (23:00 UTC on 3 September). The aircraft developed a fault in one of its engines and the passengers were deplaned. It took six hours before a replacement aircraft was available. At 10:50 local time (05:20 UTC),.[3] the replacement aircraft, a Boeing 747-437 was being pushed back when a fire broke out in #1 engine (port outer).[1] The engines fitted to the aircraft were Pratt & Whitney PW4056s.[4] The aircraft was carrying 16 crew and 213 passengers.[1] An emergency evacuation via the escape slides was carried out.[3] Twenty-one people suffered minor injuries during the evacuation.[4] The fire was extinguished within 10 minutes by the airport fire service,[3] with four fire appliances attending.[5]
The accident was investigated by the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation.[1] A report into the accident was released on 16 July 2010 and concluded that the accident was caused by Complete dislodging of No. 1 strut fuel feed line coupling due to dislodging of tie wire from the failed tie wire hole is the cause for heavy fuel leak and leaked fuel falling on hot #1 engine resulted into fire..[6] The report listing a number of contributory factors includes maintenance failing, failure of the ground engineer to notice fuel leak, failure of the pilots not to notice fuel leak during walk around inspection, some procedural failures involving communications and air traffic control and a lack of situational awareness and crew co-ordination.[6] The report made seven recommendations.[6]