Crisis: British Airways 38 ATC Audio

On January 18, 2008, Following an uneventful flight (BA38) from Beijing, China, the aircraft (G-YMMM, A Boeing 777) was established on an ILS approach to runway 27L at London Heathrow Airport, when at 600ft AGL, the autothrottle's request for a increase in trust on both engines failed. A few seconds later, both engines failed and the aircraft crash landed 1000ft short of the 27L threshold, barely missing the A30, a Major Road near LHR.

No one was injured.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 BA38 cleared to land
0:08 Normal Traffic
0:28 MAYDAY CALL
0:35 Crash Alarm

at 720 feet agl, the right engine of G-YMMM ceased responding to autothrottle commands for increased power and instead the power reduced to 1.03 Engine Pressure Ratio (EPR). Seven seconds later the left engine power reduced to 1.02 EPR. This reduction led to a loss of airspeed and the aircraft touching down some 330 m short of the paved surface of Runway 27L at London Heathrow. The investigation identified that the reduction in thrust was due to restricted fuel flow to both engines.
It was determined that this restriction occurred on the right engine at its FOHE. For the left engine, the investigation concluded that the restriction most likely occurred at its FOHE. However, due to limitations in available recorded data, it was not possible totally to eliminate the possibility of a restriction elsewhere in the fuel system, although the testing and data mining activity carried out for this investigation suggested that this was very unlikely. Further, the likelihood of a separate restriction mechanism occurring within seven seconds of that for the right engine was determined to be very low.

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[StarTheAvgeek]

I am very sorry for this incorrect transcript guys

Lads so.. after examining this piece of audio again, (quite slowed), Indeed once slowed it seems like Greg said "nature of problem" instead of "medical problem", as I stated

The only thing is, he said it so fast that many of us couldn't depict it.

Jeez, lay off on the aggressiveness and hate lads. I'll make a corrected version in a few months perhaps on January 18 2024.

[newyorker]

The controller is absolutely top notch, perfectly handled the situation, remained calm and advised everybody promptly (including the pilot because transmitting "evacuate" on frequency means it was not heard in the cabin - not that this situation would need an instruction to do so). Excellent job!

[concise]

Note the complete absence of: "Say again?", "What was that?", "I'm sorry I didn't get that..." "He's Approach, Director and London Centre all at the top of their game too..Kudos guys and gals👏

[geoffreyhui]

Lives saved by the Captain retracting flaps. Exceptional airmanship.

[Moose]

Some of the best ATC you will ever hear. That tower controller was obviously shaken as you can hear in his voice (who wouldn't be?) but his absolute professionalism and skill reigned in this situation. Listening to him juggle two planes (Qatari 011 and Speedbird 479), communicate with the ground units, AND pass info quickly and accurately to the approach controller...brilliant.

[briggsquantum]

That audio should be used to demonstrate and teach proper voice procedure. Clear, succinct, fast, understandable, proper word choice - everything was totally professional. Very impressive work by all.

[bmused]

You can hear the adrenaline induced wobble in the tower controller's voice after he watches the aircraft crash land and starts the emergency procedures. But holds his cool and gets the job done. I hope he got a stiff drink and a pat on the back for that shift. Exceptional professionalism, from all involved.

[auwz]

For anyone interested "Speed Bird 95" is the simulator call sign. Amazing how the human brain works and shows the training is so good these days there was zero deviation straight by the numbers by the captain.

[JaidenJimenez]

This is absolute perfection. Everything is so well organized, executed - there's no confusion, nobody is stepping over each other, all instructions are clear and precise, and all organized in double-quick time...

[carbonking]

Clear communication with a sense of urgency but without panic.

[SimonJMarton]

Thanks for posting this! It still gives me the shivers. I worked with Pete (Captain) on my first flight for BA mainline on a 777 to LAS in 2011. He told me about his book (Thirty Seconds to Impact) as we traversed Greenland en route to the USA. He's a friendly and well-mannered chap- the perfect pilot as he was named. I could have sat and chatted to him for another hour quite happily but my crew were already wondering were their senior was....The Reluctant Air Steward.

[monsieurchevrebois]

Exceptional. Some very high standards in both the tower and all aircraft, including the crew of the Heathrow Gliding Club's first event. I have been fortunate to visit the old tower and was amazed at how young the controllers were. The calmness was astonishing. Pilots do say that the UK has the best ATC in the world and I have to agree.

[ashwilliams]

One serious bunch of professionals there - all of them got on and did their job, no hesitation. Seriously impressive

[Joep]

My Dad was working at the old air traffic control tower the day this happened. He took me into his work (as it was a half term and i was 7 at the time) and I've got a photo of me on the balcony of the control tower with the aircraft being lifted by cranes in the background. Long story short im now about 2 weeks away from finishing my masters degree in aerospace engineering. I still look back at this incident as one of the main things that got me intrested in aviation as a kid and i still have the newspapers that my parents got about it.

[cypher]

Lhr ATC are just the absolute cream of the crop. Such a pleasure to listen to such professionals

[David-lbte]

First hull loss, and subsequent investigation identified a fuel/heating design fault. No crew error.

[easyJet_captain]

Controller handled this situation like a boss. Remained calm and directing everything perfectly. Good Job

[bxtmrcp]

I was BBC deployments editor that day and scrambled our newscopter…
The pictures went live into the one o’clock news and round the world to our news partners and affiliates - thanks to the professionalism of ATC and the helicopter team.

[zappababe]

Nice to know that everyone survived. Nice to hear "Ta" instead of "Thank you" from the ATCs, I think they were a bit stressed, which is understandable.

[Bobrogers]

An airport as busy as Heathrow needs top-notch ATCs, and this one filled the bill. Crisp, clear, professionally done.