Virgin Blue will charter a Boeing 747-400 from Air New Zealand "to maintain schedule integrity" following one of its 777-300ER aircraft being grounded in Los Angeles with an engine problem, a spokesman says.The Air NZ 747 will operate today from Australia to Los Angeles and then make the return journey. The spokesman could not say how long the aircraft would be chartered for but that he expected it to complete "at least a few sectors". V Australia has so far only canceled
Wednesday's LAX-Sydney service and today's Brisbane-LAX service.V Australia flight 2 from LAX to Sydney on 13 April was in the "early stages of its takeoff roll" on runway 25R shortly before 11 pm when the pilot decided to abort the flight owning to engine performance issues, the spokesman says.
It is possible the number one GE90 powerplant experienced an engine surge, but this could not be confirmed ahead of the preliminary report. The spokesman could not say how long the aircraft would be out of service for.
"Our engine functions appear to be normal but there seems to be something of significant impact--I'm not sure it's the nose gear or the main gear...Can anyone notice behind?" the VA2 crew said to LAX ground control after the 777 aborted the takeoff and remained on the runway, according to air traffic control recordings.
A United Airlines pilot responded: "We happened to look at the front of that aircraft when he aborted and I saw some sort of spark near the nose gear. I don't know if there was a blown nose gear tyre but it looked like it might have been that."
Another airline's crew reported they saw a "fireball out of your number one engine".
The aircraft exited the runway approximately ten minutes later after emergency crews checked the aircraft and runway for damage and debris.
Engineering inspections were carried out overnight and the carrier is due to receive its preliminary report in approximately an hour, the spokesman says.
Virgin Blue says some passengers were accommodated on other airlines' flights while others were provided with hotel accommodation. Local passengers who wanted to return home had their ground transportation reimbursed.
Virgin Blue's response is far more measured than how it handled the grounding of a 777 last October in LAX after a contracted ground handler caused damage to the aircraft's wing. Reports from the time say V Australia did not have adequate disruption practices. That left passengers, including in business class, stuck in LAX for a number of days. The carrier's swift decision this time to charter a 747 will minimize disruptions, which would otherwise overhang the carrier's forthcoming re-branding and re-launch as Australia's new business airline.
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