Question for our resident pilots..What would cause this engine failure?

The altitude reference is incorrect. This was a common bird strike that occurred on take-off. It was the no. 2 engine (Rolls Royce RB211-535). The reference in some of the news articles that there was a chemical reaction in the combustion section is also poor reporting.

And for the record, the term for bird guts that have ingested into a jet engine is referred to as "Snarge". Look it up.
 
The article is too vague to ascribe a cause. “Chemical reaction inside the combustion chamber” doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t know what is meant by that. I have a lot of time with RB-211s. Never heard of that.

The video shows it compressor stalling - flames from the engine, not the wing, as the article describes.

In general, engines fail because either a control system fails (bad sensor, bad data, processor, etc.) or a mechanical part lets go (compressor blade, turbine blade, bearing). Hard to know what happened in this case from the description.

But compressor stalls happen when the airflow in the engine is disrupted - that can be mechanical, or control system.

If you can’t restart it, it’s most likely mechanical. Typically, a control system has redundancies and will work if the engine is shut down and restarted.

If you hear it “popping” - and I didn’t on the video - then it is still compressor stalling.
 
The article is too vague to ascribe a cause. “Chemical reaction inside the combustion chamber” doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t know what is meant by that. I have a lot of time with RB-211s. Never heard of that.

The video shows it compressor stalling - flames from the engine, not the wing, as the article describes.

In general, engines fail because either a control system fails (bad sensor, bad data, processor, etc.) or a mechanical part lets go (compressor blade, turbine blade, bearing). Hard to know what happened in this case from the description.

But compressor stalls happen when the airflow in the engine is disrupted - that can be mechanical, or control system.

If you can’t restart it, it’s most likely mechanical. Typically, a control system has redundancies and will work if the engine is shut down and restarted.

If you hear it “popping” - and I didn’t on the video - then it is still compressor stalling.
There are several videos out there that have a popping sound all throughout the descent. Flames shoot out with each pop.
 
There are several videos out there that have a popping sound all throughout the descent. Flames shoot out with each pop.
I haven't seen all of them them - only the article that you linked and on which you solicited commentary.

I've already explained what the popping sound and flames are caused by - it's a compressor stall.

Also - the video linked in the article shows the airplane climbing, not descending. And the flames stop after a few seconds.

So, reckon the crew shut it down fairly quickly.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom