Fatal Boeing 777 Events

Other Boeing Models: 717, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777

The 777 has not had any fatal events involving passengers. The one significant safety event involving passengers is listed below.

17 January 2008; British Airways 777; London, England: The aircraft touched down about 1000 feet short of runway 27L at London's Heathrow Airport. The aircraft skidded just over 1000 feet, tearing off its landing gear and coming to rest on the tarmac just to the right of the end of the runway. This was a scheduled international flight that was arriving from Beijing, China. There were 16 crew members and 136 passengers on board, and one passenger sustained a serious injury. This was the first serious accident for the 777 since it began commercial service in 1995.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), the lead agency in this investigation, has released several updates on the progress of the investigation, and has reported the following preliminary findings:

The flight was normal until the aircraft was on final approach and about two miles (3.2 km) from touchdown on runway 27L, when the aircraft was about 800 above the ground.
Engines initially responded to autothrust commands to increase thrust during final approach.
About seven seconds later, thrust on left engine reduced to similar levels.
The flight crew manually advanced throttles, but engines still did not respond.
Engines continued to produce thrust above flight idle but below the commanded level.
The aircraft touched down in a grassy area about 1,000 feet short of the runway.
There is no indication that the engines ingested either ice or birds, or that there was signficant amounts of water in the fuel.
The fuel temperature stayed signifcantly above its freezing point throughout the flight.
Recorded data indicate adequate fuel and autothrottle and engine controls performed as expected prior to, and after, reduction of thrust.

This crash did not cause a passenger death and is not a fatal event as defined by AirSafe.com, but is included because of the seriousness of the event. For more information on the ongoing investigation, please review one or more of the podcasts listed below.