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| Date: | Thursday 10 October 1996 |
| Time: | 14:59 |
| Type: |  Boeing 747-123 |
| Owner/operator: | Virgin Atlantic Airways |
| Registration: | G-VMIA |
| MSN: | 20108/87 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1970 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 378 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Location: | Over England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | London-Gatwick Airport (LGW/EGKK) |
| Boston-Logan International Airport, MA (BOS/KBOS) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The crew came on duty at 1240 hrs for a 1400 hrs departure on a scheduled 7 hours 10 minutes
flight to Boston, USA. The aircraft took off at 1419 hrs. The commander was the handling pilot
and he reported that, during the climb, at 330 kt IAS, at around FL290, he noticed that the rate of
climb had reduced to less than 500ft/min. He noted that the aircraft was in VMC, climb EPR
(Engine Pressure Ratio) was set and the static air temperature was -44°C. Shortly afterwards, the
EPR on the No 1 engine began to fluctuate and reduced to about 1.32; there was little response
when the flight engineer manipulated the thrust levers. Nacelle anti ice was selected on as a
precaution because the aircraft was about to enter a layer of cirrostratus cloud. At about this time,
the No 4 engine also ran down. The commander handed control to the first officer and declared a
state of emergency. The flight engineer carried out the memory items of the MULTI ENGINE
SHUTDOWN/RESTART drill and the status of the nacelle anti ice, ignition, fuel heat, fuel
configuration and fuel booster pump were reported to have been correct at this time.
A successful windmill start was eventually achieved on the No 1 engine. All attempts to restart the
No 4 engine resulted in it running with a high egt and low rpm with no thrust lever response and so it
was shut down. The aircraft returned to Gatwick where, after jettisoning 40,200 kg of fuel, a three
engined approach was made and it landed safely at 1556 hrs.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/54230285ed915d1371000bbf/dft_avsafety_pdf_500539.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6749437 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 16 March 1995 | G-VMIA | Virgin Atlantic Airways | 0 | near London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) | |
min |
| Inflight fire | ||||||
| 6 June 1998 | G-VMIA | Virgin Atlantic Airways | 0 | London-Gatwick Airport (LGW/EGKK) | |
min |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 14-Apr-2025 15:02 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 14-Apr-2025 15:02 | ASN | Updated [Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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