The British Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) released an  initial report last week on the British Airways 777 that landed short of runway 27L at London Heathrow (LHR) on January 17, 2008. As seems to be usual in these commercial aircraft mishaps, the initial press speculation (engine failure, fuel starvation, etc.) about the cause turned out not to be correct. The AAIB notes that both engines were still producing thrust, and that there was plenty of fuel onboard. I’ve taken several courses on aircraft accident investigation, and been involved in numerous on-site investigations. One of the first things you learn is that when you arrive on site, your initial thoughts on what caused the accident are usually incorrect. It usually takes weeks, and sometimes months, of pouring over the data to make a valid determination. Unfortunately in this day of instant communications, the public usually demands an answer right away.

Personally, with a background in aircraft and seating crashworthiness, I’ll be interested in reading the AAIB’s final report for the section on survivability factors. Even though this Boeing 777 landed hard enough to shear off the landing gear, all the passengers evacuated quickly and safely. I’ll be interested to read if the passenger and crew seats remained intact and attached to the floors; if the overhead luggage bins remained closed and intact; if the evacuation exits and slides all performed as designed; and, if there was any major leakage of the remaining fuel.

On a lighter note concerning this mishap: I saw an interview with an excited taxi driver who was in his cab on the Heathrow airport perimeter road off the end of runway 27L when the 777 came in right over top of him. He said the 777 was so low he thought it was going to scrape the roof of his cab. I’ve been to Heathrow many times, and have even driven that same section of road trying to find the rental car return area. Even on a normal approach, the planes fly pretty low over that road. (Look at satellite views of Heathrow on Google Earth to see how close that perimeter road is to the grassy runway overrun area where the big Boeing touched down.) I have a feeling this taxi driver had to change his knickers after his close brush (literally) with the British Airways 777.