Late Thursday, an Atlas Air Boeing 747-8 cargo plane, was forced to make an emergency landing at Miami International Airport shortly after takeoff due to an engine fire. The aircraft, with five crew members onboard, returned safely, and no injuries were reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the incident. A post-flight inspection revealed a softball-size hole above the engine. The NTSB has commenced an inquiry to ascertain the extent and cause of the damage.
Unconfirmed footage on social media platform X depicted flames erupting from the aircraft’s left wing during flight. According to Atlas Air, the crew adhered to all standard procedures for a safe return. The company also announced plans for a thorough inspection to determine the fire’s origin.
John Cox, a U.S. air safety expert, indicated that issues with a single engine typically do not pose significant risks. However, the specifics of this incident, particularly the hole in the engine, suggest an uncontained engine failure, thus warranting a more serious investigation. He explained that engines are designed to contain blade separations, but uncontained failures do occur and are treated with heightened investigative concern. This incident notably follows increased scrutiny on uncontained engine failures, like the 2018 Southwest Airlines incident where a passenger was partially sucked out of a window.
The age of the engine and its maintenance history are likely focal points for the ongoing investigation. Boeing, the aircraft’s manufacturer, is actively supporting the investigation. The aircraft in question is eight years old and powered by four General Electric GEnx engines. GE Aerospace has also pledged technical support to the FAA and NTSB.
This incident adds to a series of aviation mishaps this year, including a fatal collision in Tokyo involving an Airbus A350 and a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet emergency landing due to a cabin panel blowout, which led to temporary grounding of similar jets.
The Atlas Air flight, bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico, encountered the issue shortly after takeoff. Crew communication with air traffic control, as recorded on liveatc.net, confirmed the engine fire during the aircraft’s climb. Atlas Air, serving major clients like DHL and FedEx, went private last year following an acquisition by Apollo Global Management. The company received the last commercial Boeing jumbo freighter version just last year.