South African investigators are to open a probe into an uncontained engine failure on a BAE Systems Avro RJ85 which also damaged the adjacent powerplant, leaving the jet with two functioning engines.
The aircraft, operated by Airlink, had been conducting flight SA8103 from Harare to Johannesburg on 8 November when the failure occurred. The crew opted to continue to Johannesburg.
Airlink says the aircraft landed "under the power of its remaining two engines", just after 20:40. The RJ85 is powered by four Honeywell LF507s.
None of the 34 passengers and four crew members was injured and the carrier insists that the occupants were never in jeopardy.
The airline has not given further details or confirmed the identity of the airframe involved.
But the incident echoes an occurrence in August 2004 during which the uncontained failure of an inboard LF507 engine on a Swiss Avro RJ100 also damaged the adjacent outboard engine, which was subsequently shut down.
Airlink has notified the South African Civil Aviation Authority of the event and says the organisation will open an investigation. The carrier adds that it will provide "whatever technical assistance is requested".
Source: Cirium Dashboard
