British Airways 2276 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Las Vegas, Nevada to London, England. On September 8, 2015, “G-VIIO” – the aircraft operating the flight – suffered an uncontained left engine failure and subsequent fire during its takeoff roll from Las Vegas-McCarran International Airport, prompting an immediate abort and surprisingly-less-immediate evacuation onto the runway.
The aircraft, bound for Gatwick Airport (near London) had 157 passengers and 13 crew on board. Fourteen people were injured during the evacuation, though none seriously.
Repairs to the aircraft were completed in February 2016 and it was returned to passenger service on March 24, 2016.
As this video dramatically highlights, airport rescue and firefighting (“ARFF”) units responded rapidly to this incident. McCarran is an ARFF Index E airport, a designation which governs the number and type of apparatus that must be available and staffed for ARFF emergencies. Index E airports service the largest aircraft in existence and must have at least three firefighting vehicles: one with a relatively small amount of water, and with a designated quantity of either dry powder or clean agent, and “two vehicles carrying an amount of water and the commensurate quantity of AFFF [foam] so the total quantity of water for foam production carried by all three vehicles is at least 6,000 gallons.”
Clark County Fire provides fire protection services to McCarran Airport from Station #13, which at the time of this incident was staffed by 33 firefighters total, divided among three platoons of 11 firefighters who each worked ten days per month.
The primary response apparatus out of Station #13 were three Legacy (read: old) Striker 3000s, one of which was equipped with a high-reach extendible turret, or HRET. (ARFF units have taken some well-deserved heat from the NTSB and FAA for not making enough use of that versatile and demonstrably-more-effective tool. It got used here, though. Notice the insane volume of water flowing from the boom, on the left of the shot ~19 seconds in. You are looking at the first Oshkosh Striker 4500 8X8 that was ever built, and you are watching its HRET flow well over 1,000 gallons of water and foam per minute.)
The NTSB has been uncharacteristically quiet about this accident, so instead of linking you to a nonexistent accident report I’ll do one better: Visit http://tiny.cc/britishfire for a massive collection of primary source documents from the NTSB investigation, including Boeing 777 emergency procedures, the cockpit voice recorder transcript, crew interviews, and much more. When (not if) you find something interesting in there, consider leaving a comment about it so others can check it out. The “Survival Factors Factual Report” is a great place to begin.
Some observations to kick things off: The CVR transcript reveals that the flight crew did not have anything resembling accurate information about fire conditions. In fact, the captain was under the impression that the fire had gone out after the plane came to a stop. He also seems to have been a bit frazzled, and in running the engine fire checklist the captain actually forgot to shut down the engine that was on fire.
Fortunately, the two – yes, two – first officers kept it together. One FO exited the cockpit to assess the situation from the cabin. He quickly returned, reporting heavy fire and stating they needed to evacuate immediately. The cabin crew performed admirably in the ensuing evacuation, and seem to have been very well trained. (Some of their training materials are linked above.)
Finally, as you may have noticed, the ATC audio in this video does not perfectly sync up with the footage
Music by Steven O’Brien. (Don’t like it? You’ll be okay. Try turning your volume down.)
40 Comments
All y'all who are complaining about the music seem to unaware that weeks ago WYHS posted an extended version of this footage… without any music, and with the ATC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4QuObA82uI
Can you imagine being a passenger on another plane that was landing or taking off? Seeing that up close and personal would deter me from flying ever again. 11/14/18: The female ATC that can be heard on the recording suffered a stroke while on duty a few days ago and resigned.
I kinda' liked the music. ☺
Good to know noone was killed. I've seen enough of that watching these aviation disaster videos all weekend.
I liked this music. it determined the character of the video
The captain never said the fire was out, he said we have a fire…evacuating. Maybe you don't get the accent? He couldn't miss a fire that big😅😅
Keep the music
Too much time for evacuate !
It took exactly 1 min (1:51–2:51)to open emergency doors????
this what happens when the GE is use. it would not had happened if its on a rolls Royce Trent engine.
Nice video mate, also like the summary in the info box. Quick question though what song is this I can't find it?
What were they waiting before they could activate exit chutes??? Immediately they stopped they would have done that. I think an explosion would have been catastrophic.
All those people with their damn suitcases…. self centered pricks…
@What You Haven't Seen
This is so FANTASTIC ofed video!!! —–> AND MUSIC IS VERY DRAMATIC keept it ined there!! WHo does care what toned deaf arms chair fire chiefs thinked.
I do liked this video a LOT. Always I wished for being a fires fighter whened do I grow uped, I am at 14, but now never I cand do that. Still do I liked to watched them do theirs work a lot.
McCarran Airport has it's own symphony orchestra. First class all the way!
Looks like a GE engine 777, not the RR version.
Can't believe the repaired this bird. When I first saw this, I expected she was destined for the scrapyard.
idiot passengers who just had to take luggage with them…playing with theirs and others lives
i actually like the music!
Patética actuación de los bomberos
Surprised that a coach(s) were not liad on to go out and pick up the passengers after their ordeal!!!! Would certainly not expected to have to WALK back to the terminal!!!Remind me never to fly to McCarron Airport, Las Vegas!!!
This happened in the US. Why was the fire not jailed for hundreds of years?
The fire crews did good job…..when they finally arrived!!!!!
love this!!!
Given the amount of foam and equipment runway 7L was only fouled for four hours, being right by the skirt of the terminal response time was unprecedented and fire was out in five minutes. The bird was certified airworthy the following year
Great music!!
That was a Mofo that was.
Why do the people hate the music? It fits well.
Imagine that plane took off
😵
"Looks like a brake fire." Thanks, American.
Why they wait a so long time to start to evacuate?
Can yall imagine being that plane taking off and just watching a massive fire begin beneath you
I knew that aircraft had to be able to evacuate in 90 seconds using only half the exits, this is the best example as to why.
The flight crew made major errors in this incident. They took too long to order evacuation. They left the right engine on accidentally and you can see it blowing the inflated escape slides up in the air and people couldn't use them. They evacuated people therefore onto the FIRE SIDE of the aircraft, with the forward first class/biz class escape slide dangerously close to the fire. Poorly done British Airways. Wake up!
An extraordinary event , professionally handled by a well trained crew. A credit to the industry. The aeroplane was rebuilt despite extensive damage and flew home.
At 30 seconds you see one of the emergency vehicles almost run over 1 of the passengers
At the end, all the pax with carryon crap!!! WTF! They should be fining anyone with carryon. Think if I was crew, I would lose it on anyone with a bag with them! 🤬
Absolute respect to the fire crews……quick response……fire blanket of ground foam and multiple attacks on the fire. Flight crew and ATC very clam and professional. Very well done all.
Amazing music