Crash jet lost power to both its engines; Everything normal until landing - report.

Byline: By Peter Woodman

THE two engines on the British Airways plane that crash-landed at Heathrow twice failed to respond to deliver more power as the aircraft was just 600ft high and only two miles from touchdown, an initial air accident report said last night.

The flight had been normal until that point, but the Boeing 777 descended rapidly and struck the ground some 1,000ft short of the runway surface, just inside the airfield boundary fence, the report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.

The report went on: "At approximately 600ft and two miles from touchdown, the autothrottle demanded an increase in thrust from the two engines but they did not respond.

"Following further demands for increased thrust from the autothrottle, and subsequently the flight crew moving the throttle levers, the engines similarly failed to respond.

"The aircraft speed reduced and the aircraft descended on to the grass short of the paved runway surface."

The AAIB said the plane had been coming in to Heathrow on an instrument landing system approach in which pilots can follow a set path and be guided in. The branch said: "During the short ground roll, the right main landing gear separated from the wing and the left main landing gear was pushed up through the wing root. A significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraft but there was no fire."

The AAIB said it had been notified of the accident within a few minutes and a team of inspectors had gone to the airport.

US aviation authorities and representatives of Boeing were also involved, the AAIB said.

"Rolls-Royce, the engine manufacturer, is also supporting the investigation, an investigator having joined the AAIB team," the report added.

It said the BA flight crew were interviewed on the evening of the event and the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the plane were being studied.

Examination of the aircraft systems and engines was ongoing, the AAIB said.

"Initial indications from the interviews and flight recorder analyses show the flight and approach to have progressed normally until the aircraft was established on late finals for runway 27L.

"The investigation is now focussed on more detailed analysis of the flight recorder information, collecting further recorded information from various system modules and examining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operation."

The AAIB has said it hoped to produce a preliminary report within 30 days of the incident but that a full and final report could be some time away.