Date:	Monday 14 October 1996
Time:	21:19
Type:	Boeing 747-236B
Owner/operator:	British Airways
Registration:	G-BDXO
MSN:	23799/677
Year of manufacture:	1987
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 359
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Category:	Accident
Location:	London Gatwick Airport (LGW/EGKK) -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	London Gatwick Airport (LGW/EGKK)
Destination airport:	Harare International Airport, Harare, Zimbabwe (HRE/FVRG)
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Boeing 747-236B G-BDXO of British Airways sustained damage in a take off incident at London Gatwick Airport on 14 October 1996. The AAIB Final Report into the incident was published10 December 2014, and the following in an excerpt from it:

"The aircraft had begun its take-off roll on a flight to Harare, Zimbabwe. The Flight Data Recorder subsequently showed that take-offpower was set by 80 knots, but Turbine Gas Temperature (TGT) on the No 1 engine increased slightly, accompanied by small fluctuations in Engine Pressure Ratio (EPR).

As the aircraft reached V1 at 144 knots, there was a bang, followed by audible surging, the TGT started to rise sharply, and there was a step increase in the vibration indication. Flame and sparks were seen coming from the jet pipe by some passengers and ground observers. Power was reduced as the TGT passed 784°C and momentarily peaked at 804°. Take off was continued and the No 1 engine was shut-down at about 300 feet AGL. The aircraft jettisoned fuel and returned to Gatwick without further incident.

Borescope inspection revealed considerable High Pressure Compressor (HPC) damage and a subsequent strip examination showed severe secondary damage to stages 4, 5 and 6 of the HPC, caused by releaseof a stage 3 stator vane airfoil which had apparently cracked away from its inner and outer shrouds. In this particular model of the RB211 engine, the HPC3 stators are of fabricated design,with the airfoil being brazed to the inner and outer shrouds and are assembled as single vanes to form the complete stage. The remaining stages are of forged construction, separate vane being brazed together in groups of six.

The operator reports that they have not experienced problems before on the HPC3 stator vanes on the RB211-D4 engine but had encountered problems with the HPC4 vanes on their RB211-535C engines which were also of fabricated construction, and were addressed by a change to a forged standard. With this experience in mind, they report that they are giving serious consideration to embodying Rolls-Royce modification 72-7342 on refurbishment of the HPC of their fleet of engines.

This modification changes the construction of the HPC3 stator vanes on the 524D4 engines from fabricated to forged.The engine in question had flown 61,288 hours/9,980 cycles since new and 3,821 hours/570 cycles since last workshop visit".

1. AAIB Final report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422f723e5274a1317000683/dft_avsafety_pdf_500095.pdf
2. https://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-b747-23799.htm
3. https://www.airhistory.net/photo/296602/G-BDXO
4. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?PHPSESSID=k4vndu7gvfltceo0nku7felf00&topic=18162.0

Other occurrences involving this aircraft


6 June 1991	G-BDXO	British Airways	0	London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL)		min
Collision with Ground support equipment

British Airways Boeing 747-236B G-BDXO at Manchester Airport on 2 March 2014

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
25-Jan-2021 22:09	Dr. John Smith	Added
25-Jan-2021 22:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Destination airport, Source, Embed code, ]
25-Jan-2021 22:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative, ]
11-Aug-2025 00:40	Justanormalperson	Updated
11-Aug-2025 00:41	Justanormalperson	Updated [Accident report, ]