Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 Serious Engine Failure
Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 Serious Engine Failure

Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 Suffers Uncontained Engine Failure

Aaron Hilsz-Lothian·
767Aviation NewsBoeingEthiopian AirlinesSafety

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 was climbing out of Blaise Diagne International Airport on the 8th of October when its right hand engine failed.

The aircraft, registered ET-AMG, was performing flight ET908 to Bamako with 90 people on board when the right hand Pratt and Whitney PW4062 engine suffered from an uncontained failure.

Passengers reported a loud bang with smoke pouring into the cabin shortly after. Following indications and appropriate checklists, the pilots halted the climb at 2500 feet and returned to Blaise Diagne International Airport.

Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 Suffers Uncontained Engine Failure
Flightradar24 Screenshot of ET908 (JACDEC – Twitter)

Landing successfully around eight minutes after departure, the aircraft vacated the runway and was greeted by emergency services who put out a fire in the failed engine.

Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 Suffers Uncontained Engine Failure

No passengers were injured during the incident and everyone was removed from the aircraft using stairs attached to the left hand doors. Everyone was provided instructions to be accommodated by alternative flights.

Ethiopian Airlines released a statement on the incident, saying the Boeing 767-300 had encountered a technical problem and needed to return to its departure airport.

Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 Suffers Uncontained Engine Failure
Airport Service Photo

A noteworthy addition is that this is the fourth serious incident for ET-AMG within five years:

  • In 2014 the aircraft performed a high-speed rejected takeoff.
  • In 2017 the aircraft collided with an Airbus A320 in Delhi.
  • In 2018 an engine failure caused cowl and fuselage damage.

An investigation will likely be opened to determine the cause of the failure, with Pratt and Whitney providing assistance.

Aaron Hilsz-Lothian

Based in Sydney Australia, Aaron currently works as as a load control planner among the regional operation centre of a major airline. In addition to this, he has multiple years of experience in a frontline aviation environment including ramp, customer acceptance and freight. Writing casually for Sam Chui since 2018, he intends to use his experience in the industry to answer everyday questions that passengers often ponder and to shed light on the complex systems that make aviation so fascinating.

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12 Responses

  1. What I can’t understand is the mood that unfolded afterwards which promoted the crew and some emergency service crew to gather in front of the damaged engine to pose for the group photo…is that appropriate? I know there was a happy ending to this incident, but did that warrant such a pose-for-a-group-photo? Is that normal?

    Reply

    1. yea it’s normal after the problem is solved , workers tend to pose and take a pic , u can also find it from Lufthansa , Emirates , Air New Zealand,avianca etc

  2. I was the Captain of this flight. Ethiopian Airlines is an excellent airline that I am proud to fly for. I was also a long time Captain with American Airlines in the USA. I love flying here. Too many comment upon things upon which they know nothing.

    Reply

  3. This is not an uncontained engine failure, you should be careful with what you post!

    Engine failures may be described as either as “contained” or “uncontained”.
    A contained engine failure is one in which components might separate inside the engine but either remain within the engine’s cases or exit the engine through the tail pipe.
    An uncontained engine event occurs when an engine failure results in fragments of rotating engine parts penetrating and exiting through the engine case. Uncontained turbine engine disk failures within an aircraft engine present a direct hazard to an airplane and its passengers because high-energy disk fragments can penetrate the cabin or fuel tanks, damage flight control surfaces, or sever flammable fluid or hydraulic lines

    Reply

    1. Components from the engine were released during the failure, as seen in the pictures included in the article.

    2. You say this is not an uncontained engine failure because parts flew out of the tail pipe? The holes seen on the engine are not the tailpipe, the tail pipe is at the extreme rear lift the engine. These holes are on the side of the nacelle…the hot section of the nacelle. Are there any other moving parts apart from fan/turbine blades that can cause such a breach of the nacelle? You might wanna review your definition of the terms “contained” and “uncontained” engine failures while taking a good look at all/any photos of this engine to see which definition it matches.

  4. Thanks for the article,
    My dad was an actual passenger of the flight and has many more infos that you could cover.
    You can reach him on Twitter : @falpap
    Or contact be on my mail : mohafall@gmail.com

    I hope this message won’t be left unseen.

    Many thanks.

    Reply

    1. also a frequent flyer from the UK , I don’t think this is Ethiopian’s fault , u can never predict when an aircraft will malfunction, my friend works in the Boeing East Africa department and it from the reports its assured that the engine failure wasn’t cased by lack of piloting skills but the terrain and in cockpit automated response that mainly caused the problem

      I’m a frequent flier of Ethiopian and I would recommend taking it as these issues can happen on any airline and at any given time

  6. Has Ethiopian changed their maintenance logs yet? I used to think I’d be happy to fly them, but I think I’m changing my mind!

    Reply

    1. since it became clear that they are hiding stuff about their minimal maintenance,my worry about Ethiopian airlines was confirmed.The government is busy trying to make the airline appear like an angel at the expense of Ethiopian airlines.Its now better to fly other expensive airlines and arrive alive.

    2. Since the ET302 accident , Ethiopian has implemented surprises checks on staff and my British friend working for Ethiopian aircraft maintenance got sacked when he was caught drinking heavy liquor while working and was taken legal actions against
      Came after his co workers reported him, to whoever that works in this sector , pls take ur work seriously

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