Passengers who fled British Airways plane fire in Las Vegas file lawsuit

Blaze: The British Airways plane went up in flame on the runway in Las Vegas airport
Eric Hays/AP
Laura Proto28 November 2015

Passengers who had to flee a British Airways jet after it caught fire on a runway in Las Vegas have filed a lawsuit claiming the aircraft was “defective and unreasonably dangerous”.

The Boeing 777-200 was due to depart McCarran International Airport for a 10-hour flight to London Gatwick on September 8 when the blaze broke out.

A total of 170 people – 157 passengers and 13 crew members – were onboard at the time of the fire and all escaped without serious injury.

Twenty seven people, half of whom were crew, were treated for minor injuries caused by escaping down the emergency slides.

But a lawsuit has now been filed against GE Aviation and Boeing on behalf of 65 passengers, who claim the incident caused them physical and emotional damage.

Evacuated: Passengers were forced to flee down the emergency slides
John Locher/AP

James Healy-Pratt of Stewarts Law, based in London, said the passengers do not blame the pilots or crew for the incident and praised them for their bravery.

Mr Healy-Pratt said: "The pilots and cabin crew performed heroically in guiding the aircraft to an emergency stop."

He added he expects more passengers to join the lawsuit in due course.

BA senior captain Chris Henkey, 63, from Reading, Berkshire, was on his penultimate flight before retirement when he aborted take-off, declared the emergency and ordered the evacuation of the aircraft.

Parts of the General Electric GE90-85B engine flew out onto the runway during the fire and a US National Transportation Safety Board investigation found the engine of BA flight 2276 had "multiple breaches" in its casing.

Among the claims in the lawsuit are that the plane was defective, the firms knew the parts were prone to "fracture and failure", and that GE Aviation had lobbied against stricter inspections of the engines before the fire.

The lawsuit mentions a Federal Aviation Administration directive from 2011 warning of cracks in weld joints of compressor fan spools in similar engines.

GE Aviation has said the engine affected had different parts, and claimed it is "among the most reliable jet engines in commercial aviation history".

Boeing and GE Aviation have not yet commented on the lawsuit.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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