Loss of thrust in first 777 crash

LONDON — Both jet engines failed to respond to demands for more power moments before the first-ever crash of a Boeing 777, investigators at London's Heathrow Airport said Friday.

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair. Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another part was jammed up into the wing. The airplane struck ground 1,000 feet short, then plowed on its belly across open grassland and halted when it reached the runway. The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited through emergency slides.

No one died. One passenger was seriously hurt, and at least 12 passengers and crew members had minor injuries.

Several passengers said they were unaware of the emergency until it was over. "It was a very quiet, normal flight. I didn't have the feeling we had crashed until we left the plane," said Jerome Ensinck. "When you look at the plane you realize it could have been way, way worse."

Investigators said the plane's autopilot called for more thrust, and flight data and voice recorders indicate the pilots then moved the throttles to do the same — with no result. The malfunction became apparent at an altitude of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended touchdown.

Capt. Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward, who had the controls at the time of the accident, did "a remarkable job" landing the plane. Burkill, speaking at a news conference, said he couldn't discuss a possible cause while the investigation was under way.

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly. Travelers showed "calmness and good sense," he said.

"Flying is about teamwork, and we had a fantastic team on board," Burkill said. The captain has almost 20 years of experience with the carrier.

The 777 model, which entered commercial service in 1995, relies heavily on computers, so one area for examination is whether the software functioned properly. A "range of aircraft systems" could have been responsible for the loss of engine power, the United Kingdom's Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report.

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days.

David Gleave, the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis, a private company, said a bird strike would be among the possible causes under investigation. A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known potential hazard.

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem. The report said a "significant amount of fuel" leaked in the crash, indicating that there was still fuel on board, but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines properly. Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself, drawn from the bottom of the tanks at the end of the long flight.

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use. The airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways' fleet and had been delivered in 2001, according to Boeing. It had more than 23,000 hours of flight and about 3,000 takeoffs and landings, indicating it had been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights, with an average flight length of about seven hours.

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines, manufactured by Rolls-Royce.

The last maintenance check was in December, British Airways said.

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced model, designed to capture large volumes of data.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a team to assist in the investigation. Rolls-Royce and Boeing are also participating.

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early Friday in the continuing disruption at Europe's busiest airport. The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday.

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash. Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson, who controls rival Virgin Atlantic Airways.

"The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand, the total professionalism and dedication of the staff," Brown said. "It's at times like these you remember you're in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job."

Material from The New York Times, The Associated Press, and Bloomberg was used in this report.