Engine explodes on charter plane, forcing flight to turn back to Miami
An engine exploded on a Swiss charter airline Sunday morning shortly after
it took off from Miami International Airport with 175 people aboard.
Edelweiss Air Flight No. 565 en route to Zurich returned to the airport and
no injuries were reported, said Lauren Peduzzi, spokeswoman for the National
Transportation Security Board, which is investigating the incident.
However, the explosion of the Rolls-Royce engine damaged the Airbus A330's
wing, and pieces of the engine could have penetrated the passenger cabin.
''Anytime you have an uncontained engine failure and have engine parts
exiting the engine, it's a dangerous situation,'' Peduzzi said. ``There is a
danger that engine parts will damage the aircraft or they could injure
people.''
The twin-engine Airbus A330 departed Miami at 1:28 a.m. and returned at 2:11
a.m., said Marc Henderson, Miami International Airport spokesman. The
plane's left engine failed no more than 40 miles outside the airport, he
said.
Passengers were flown later that day on Lufthansa and American Airlines
flights, Henderson said.
Edelweiss' charter flight has flown nonstop to Zurich on Sunday mornings
since July 5.
Peduzzi said the aircraft is still in Miami, and Rolls-Royce is making
arrangements to remove the engine and ferry it to Derby, England, to analyze
it.
Engine explosions are unusual, and the flying metal can kill passengers. In
1996, a Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219 engine on a Delta MD-88 failed as the plane
took off from Pensacola. Debris tore into the plane's cabin, killing a
Michigan woman and her 12-year-old son.
In November 1973, a passenger was killed when an engine exploded on a
National Airlines flight from Houston to Las Vegas.