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| Title: | Engine fire on takeoff, Air Zimbabwe, Boeing 707-330B, Z-WKU at Shannon Airport, Ireland, 1997-03-10 |
| Micro summary: | Right after takeoff, a fire emerged in the #3 engine of this Boeing 707. |
| Event Time: | 1997-03-10 at 2315 UTC |
| File Name: | 1997-03-10-IE.pdf |
| Publishing Agency: | Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) |
| Publishing Country: | Ireland |
| Report number: | 2004-023 |
| Pages: | 23 |
| Site of event: | Shannon Airport, Ireland |
| Departure: | Shannon International Airport, Shannon, Ireland |
| Destination: | Harare International Airport, Harare, Zimbabwe |
| Airplane Type(s): | Boeing 707-330B |
| Flight Phase: | Takeoff |
| Registration(s): | Z-WKU |
| Operator(s): | Air Zimbabwe |
| Type of flight: | Charter |
| Occupants: | 53 |
| Fatalities: | 0 |
| Serious Injuries: | 0 |
| Minor/Non-Injured: | 53 |
| Other Injuries: | 0 |
| Executive Summary: | The aircraft had completed a refuelling stop at Shannon Airport and took off bound for Harare, Zimbabwe. Immediately after take-off fire was detected in the No. 3 engine. The fire was successfully extinguished and a number of other technical problems arose, necessitating two over-shoots. The aircraft finally landed safely at Shannon. No. 3 engine had suffered considerable fire damage. The investigation found that this engine had suffered a similar fire 11 days before this event. The fire originated in a poor welding repair of the engine diffuser casing. This repair was completed some considerable time prior to the fire. Causes 3.2.1 The cause of the fire was a poorly executed welding repair of the diffuser casing in the area of the supports to the P&D Valve mounting-boss, which caused the distorting of the boss. 3.2.2 This distortion of the boss led to an air/fuel leak, which over a long period of time caused the erosion and failure of the bolt. Then when the escaping air/fuel mixture vapour reached a critical fuel/air ratio with the vented air-flow around the diffuser casing, the mixture ignited and caused the fire. 3.2.3 The inspection of the engine, following the previous events in relation to this engine, failed to detect the true nature of the fault in the engine. |
| Learning Keywords: | Operations - Maintenance |
| Systems - Engine Fire | |
| Systems - Fuel | |
| Systems - Fuel - Leak |
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