Boeing Commercial Aircraft Group, 747-436, G-BNLD
1. FACTUAL INFORMATION
1.1. History of the flight
On the evening of March 1, 2002, Boeing 747-436 aircraft G-BNLD
sustained the failure of the number-3 (right inboard) engine during
a scheduled regular passenger transport flight from Sydney to
Bangkok. The flight crew experienced vibrations and received an ENG
3 REVERSER engine indicating and crew alerting system (EICAS)
message. The crew shut down the number-3 engine and completed
checklist items before returning the aircraft to Sydney.
An initial engineering examination found that a fan blade from
the number-3 engine had failed and that debris had punctured the
engine cowl, the right wing leading and trailing edge flaps and the
fuselage; damaging a structural member above the wing root area.
The inspection found fractured fasteners and other components
beneath the fan cowls and damage to the structure associated with
the thrust reverser assembly. Debris from the number-3 engine was
also found embedded within the intake cowl of the adjacent number-4
engine.