Dramatic stories by the press

[Kell]

Hi

I just wonder if I could have your opinion on something that is really bothering me, even more so now I have just booked my holiday for July!! 6 weeks till I fly!
A few weeks ago in one of the tabloid papers, I read an article about one of the politicians (who's wife has recently had a baby) - I forget his name, but he was on board his private jet with his wife and newborn baby, and apparantly, a fire broke out in the engine just as it was taking off. The take off was aborted and they were evacuated from the plane with no problems. But, what concerned me was a spokesman for this politician said "if the plane had taken off with a fire in the engine, it would certainly have crashed" - Is this right? I thought, though I am probably mistaken, that the engines had some method of being able to put out engine fires - don't get me wrong, I am sure it would be a very hairy situation to be in, but I didn't think that an engine fire would cause the plane to crash if it had taken off? I would be very grateful for your opinion.

Thanks
Kelly

[Falcon]

The key word here is politician. Now I am fairly sure that the small corporate jet would have similar systems to the 737 ( I am willing to be corrected). If we had an engine fire at V1 speed we take the fire into the air. To stop at that point would be worse. We DO NOTHING until 400 feet above the airfield, then we confirm the failure then put the fire out. If the fire bell went off before V1 (this speed varies greatly but on average can be 120 knots) we would stop. Engine fires are serious but the statement that it would crash if it hadn't stopped was probably trying to make the politician look brave. Did the crew do the right thing? Yes. Aircraft brought under control, fire service summoned all passengers evacuated, no injuries. Good result, but without reading a report (NOT a newspaper article) I can't comment further.

[Daisy]

Not wishing to add fuel to the fire - sorry about the pun, but what happened in the case of Concorde? I know it was something to do with a fire but it crashed so quickly! What went wrong there?

Daisy x

[Falcon]

Good point, that wasnt an engine fire. It was a ruptured fuel tank.