UK-US disagree over BA emergency landing probe

Britain's air accident investigators have disputed assertions by their American counterparts that the British Airways (BA) plane that made an emergency landing at Heathrow last week did so with both its engines in trouble.
"The NTSB (National Transport Safety Board) reported that the Airbus A319 returned to land with one engine shut down and the other on fire.
"This information is incorrect: only one of the engines was affected," the UK's Department for Transport said in a statement on behalf of the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).
The BA Airbus A319 took off for Oslo on the morning of May 24, returning to the airport minutes later with smoke billowing from the right-hand engine.

The US NTSB, which is involved in the probe because American-made engines were involved, had claimed that both engine cowls fell off on to the runway during departure from Heathrow.
"An Airbus A319-131, registration number G-EUOE, during departure from London Heathrow International Airport, had the engine cowls (coverings) from both International Aero Engines V2500 engines separate and fall on to the runway.

"The pilots reported that they shut down one engine, there was a fuel leak, and that they were returning. The pilots subsequently reported that one engine was shut down and the other engine was on fire," the US team said in its report.

Aviation experts say if there had been such a situation it would have been very dangerous.
However, the AAIB maintains that only the right-hand engine was affected.
The emergency landing on May 24 had closed both of Heathrow's runways for quite some stime, causing chaos for travellers.
Heathrow bosses and the pilot's association later praised the BA cockpit crew for a textbook landing and evacuation.
The plane was safely evacuated of its 75 passengers and three people were treated for minor injuries.
Some unconfirmed reports have suggested that maintenance may have been to blame rather than a design fault and UK transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has stressed that strict action will be taken.

"Whatever lessons there are to be learned, the Government will take no hesitation in implementing those particular recommendations," he said.
"We continue to co-operate fully with the AAIB on this matter and it would be inappropriate to discuss the detail of the incident while the investigation continues," a BA spokesperson said.
The airline had to cancel nearly 200 flights in the wake of the incident but the airline has insisted it is not liable for further compensation to anyone travelling to Europe under European Union consumer legislation.