Boeing 777s are BANNED from flying over Britain: Grant Shapps says ALL planes with same engine as one that caught fire over Denver cannot enter UK airspace
All Boeing 777s with the same engine as that of the plane which caught fire after take-off from Denver will be temporarily banned from entering UK airspace, it was revealed today.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has acted after Boeing recommended that airlines ground all 777s with the type of engine that blew apart after take-off from Denver over the weekend.
Mr Shapps tweeted: ‘After issues this weekend, Boeing B777s with Pratt & Whitney 4000-112 series engines will be temporarily banned from entering the UK airspace. I will continue to work closely with the UK CAA to monitor the situation’.
Most carriers with the planes in their fleets said they would temporarily pull them from service.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered United Airlines to step up inspections of the aircraft after one of its flights made an emergency landing at Denver International Airport on Saturday as pieces of the casing of the engine, a Pratt & Whitney PW4000, rained down on suburban neighbourhoods.
United Airlines said late Sunday it will immediately halt all flights by its fleet of 24 Boeing 777 airplanes with the same type of engine involved in Saturday’s emergency landing in Denver. Pictures taken from the ground show the jet’s engine on fire and trailing smoke on Saturday
Video recorded by passengers aboard Flight UA328, which was carrying 231 travelers and 10 crew members, shows the engine on fire
Police posted photos on Twitter showing large, circular pieces of debris leaning against a house in the suburb about 25 miles north of Denver
None of the 231 passengers or 10 crew were hurt, and the flight landed safely, authorities said. United is among the carriers that has grounded the planes.
Shares in Raytheon, the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, had suffered a 2.77 per cent drop when markets opened this morning n a blow to one of the main players in the aircraft engine market and a boost to its competitors including Britain’s Rolls-Royce and Boston-based General Electric.
The near-disaster in Colorado has led to the grounding of more than a hundred Boeing 777s fitted with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines, used by United Airlines as well as Japan’s two main carriers and a South Korean firm.
Boeing said today that all 128 of the planes have been grounded, saying it had recommended suspending operations of 69 in-service and 59 in-storage aircraft while US authorities investigate what happened in Denver.