Patna-Delhi SpiceJet Flight catches fire
WHAT HAS HAPPENED?
A Delhi-bound SpiceJet aircraft, carrying 185 passengers, made an emergency landing in Patna right after take-off as its left engine had caught fire following a bird hit, officials have said. Videos shot by locals on the ground show sparks coming out from the left engine.
All passengers were safely evacuated and there has been no report of any injury, officials said.
There was no indication of the engine fire in the cockpit and it was noticed only by people on the ground and the Air Traffic Control (ATC), Captain Gurcharan Arora, Chief of Flight Operations, SpiceJet told.
WHY THE ENGINE CAUGHT FIRE?
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has confirmed that a bird hit led to the failure of Engine 1 of the Patna-Delhi SpiceJet aircraft. "The bird hit was directly into the engine. Three fan blades were damaged. It resulted in smoke and flames. But there was no indication in the cockpit."
SO WHAT IS STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE?
Sharing the details of what happened during and after the bird hit, the official said, "there was a normal take-off. There was no cockpit indication. Shortly after that they got a call from the ATC saying they have detected smoke and flames from the left engine (engine number 1)."
As is the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in such events, Captain Arora said the "pilots announce a "pan-pan", which is telling the world something is not okay, and run through a checklist.“ "And step by step, you shut down the suspect engine and then you land ASAP (As Soon As Practical) at the nearest airport," he said. And that is exactly what the pilots did.
HOW SERIOUS IS BIRD HIT?
Bird hits are regular feature and a Occur every month on various airplanes, the official further stated. "Usually, bird hits occur in the airframe. So, there's a small thud and no damage to the engine. Passenger airplanes are today made to withstand a lot of beating, they are very rugged and reliable - the airframe as well as the engine. So normally you wouldn't even get to know about it," he said.
However, in yesterday's incident, it was different. "The bird hit was directly into the engine. Three fan blades were damaged. It resulted in smoke and flames. There was no indication in the cockpits which is a testimony to how rugged the engines are. They were running absolutely smoothly," he said.
WHAT IF PLANE LOOSES AN ENGINE?
The official added that even after airplanes lose an engine, they can safely fly for up to three hours with a single engine, But regulations mandate that they land in 60 minutes.
BIRD STRIKE AND LOSSES
A survey held by ICAO including data from 91 countries found out that airlines face an average of 34 bird strikes in a day. The damage, if translated to money amounts to more than $1 Billion annually. However, a relieving fact is that almost 92% of the air strikes are without any damage.
Most of the modern engines are required to be capable of ingesting birds that weigh about 1.8-kilo while running at full power. They are required to do it within the initial climb speed without catching fire or making the engine impossible to shut down. In addition to this, it is also required to operate at atleast 50% power for upto 14 minutes after the strike. This means that even if both the engines are hit by large birds, it can provide a combined thrust output of at least one engine which is more than enough to return to the airport.