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Powerless Over London | The Story of British Airways 38

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This video is sponsored by War Thunder.

Speed 38. Clear line 27 left. The wind

21 10 knots

27 left. Speed 38.

Flying over London. A British Airways

Boeing 7 is on final approach. In just a

few minutes, the aircraft should be

safely on the ground. As the first

officer takes control to execute the

landing, he suddenly notices a drop in

air speed. The aircraft's automation

increases engine power, but the speed

keeps falling. Then comes a chilling

realization. Neither engine is responding.

responding.

The aircraft begins to sink toward the

ground. The pilots don't have time to

diagnose the problem. They need to act

quickly or risk crashing into one of

London's densely populated suburbs.

Can the crew glide the aircraft safely

to the runway or is disaster

unavoidable? This is the story of

British Airways Flight 38.

Mayday. Mayday. Speed bird. Speed bird

The story of British Airways Flight 38

began in Beijing, China on January 17th, 2008.

2008.

Operated by a Boeing trip 7, flight 38

was the return leg to London of the

regularly scheduled flight between the

two countries. The aircraft had touched

down in Beijing hours earlier and was

being serviced in preparation for the

journey to London.

In command of flight 38 was 43-year-old

Captain Peter Burkhill, a seasoned pilot

with 12,700 hours of total flight time

and 8,500 hours on the Boeing trip 7.

His senior first officer, 41-year-old

John Coward, had a total of 9,000 hours

of flight time and 7,000 hours on the

trip 7. First Officer Connor McGinness,

a 35-year-old pilot with 5,000 hours of

total flight time and 1,100 hours on the

He would replace Captain Burkel and

First Officer Coward in turn, allowing

them to leave the flight deck and get a

few hours of rest during the cruise

portion of the flight. All pilots had

arrived in Beijing several days prior

and had spent almost 2 days off duty

before operating flight 38.

The planned route of flight would take

the trip 7 over the northern parts of

China, then continue northeast across a

large part of Russia before reaching

Europe and culminating in the United

Kingdom. According to the flight plan,

the aircraft would climb to an initial

altitude of 34,100

ft before descending to 31,500

ft over the China Mongolia border due to

extremely low air temperatures that were

forecast on route.

Unbeknownst to anyone on board, the

expected drop in outside air temperature

would play a major role in the story of

At 10:09 Beijing time, carrying 136

passengers and 79,000 kg of fuel on

board, the Boeing 77 took off and

turning northeast began climbing away

from Beijing.

Shortly after, air traffic control

requested the crew to climb to an

initial cruise altitude of 34,800

ft. Although this was slightly higher

than the originally planned altitude for

the first portion of the flight, the

crew accepted the request.

Flying at higher altitudes in extremely

cold conditions can have subtle but

serious effects on the aircraft,

especially on systems like the fuel

supply. Considering a higher than

planned cruising altitude and the cold

conditions expected on route, the pilots

made a decision to closely monitor the

fuel temperature, ensuring that it does

not drop below the allowed limits.

As the aircraft continued its journey

over Russia and Northern Europe, burning

off fuel, it became significantly

lighter. The lower weight allowed the

crew to select a higher cruise altitude

for more optimized flight performance.

This practice called a step climb is

standard on longer flights.

Passing by Moscow, Russia, the flight

crew engaged the vertical speed mode to

command a shallow climb to an altitude

of 38,000 ft. A few hours later,

overflying Sweden, the aircraft climbed

further up to 40,000 ft.

By using the VS mode, the pilots could

avoid high pitch angles and abrupt

changes in engine power, providing a

more comfortable experience to the

passengers. As we will discuss further,

this seemingly positive choice

contributed significantly to the fate of

Flight 38.

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The cruise portion of the flight

continued as planned, and approximately

40 minutes prior to landing, the flight

crew initiated the descent. As the

aircraft approached London, air traffic

control instructed flight 38 to enter

the Lamborghorn holding just northeast

of London at 11,000 ft. The airplane

spent approximately 5 minutes in the

holding pattern and after descending to

9,000 ft in the hold was cleared for an

ILS approach to runway 27 left.

Having pre-programmed the aircraft's

automation, the crew instructed the

autopilot to intercept the ILS signal,

line up with the runway, and begin

descending on the glide slope. Passing

through a layer of clouds at 3,000 ft,

the pilots saw the airport straight

ahead and in clear view. They were only

a few minutes away from completing the

long journey from Asia. And the approach

continued without issue until the

aircraft descended through the last

1,000 ft of altitude. 1,00

1,00

at 1,000 ft above the ground with the

landing gear in the down position and

the wing flaps extended to 30°. The trip

7 was fully configured for the approach.

Although the captain was the pilot

flying for the initial approach, he

would hand over control to the first

officer in a few moments per the company

procedures. The autopilot was still

engaged at this time, but as briefed by

the crew earlier in the flight, the

first officer would complete the landing

manually, planning to disconnect the

autopilot at around 600 ft above the ground.

ground.

Throughout the aircraft's descent on the

glide slope, the auto throttle

maintained the desired approach speed of

135 knots by slightly moving the thrust

levers and thus adjusting the power. At

720 ft, the right engine began to

gradually spool down. Sensing the drop

in thrust, the auto throttle advanced

the left thrust lever to compensate, but

the engine did not respond. As the

aircraft descended another 100 ft, the

left engine also began losing thrust.

Just a minute from touchdown, the 160

ton airliner had lost nearly all

available power. Yet, it was still miles

To avoid overstressing the engines, the

auto throttle limited the movement of

the thrust levers, splitting them. The

resulting stagger with the left thrust

lever further ahead than the right

caught the attention of the first

officer. Focusing on the engines, he did

not disconnect the autopilot at 600 ft

as intended. The auto throttle then

gradually moved both thrust levers

forward to the full power position, but

nothing happened. 500.

500.

A short moment later, the radio

alimter's automatic call out informed

the crew that they had passed the

altitude of 500 ft. The captain

confirmed that the approach was stable

by making a corresponding call out and

the crew received the landing clearance

from Heathrow's tower controller.

We speak at 38 little line 27 left and

wind 2110 knots.

The aircraft was now only 30 seconds

from touchdown. Still having trouble

with the aircraft's thrust, the pilots

noticed that both engines were just

above idle power and the air speed

started to drop below the calculated

approach speed of 135 knots. The crew

moved the thrust levers back and forth

several times, but the engines did not respond.

respond.

Without sufficient air speed over the

wings, the aircraft would no longer be

able to produce enough lift to maintain

the desired approach path and the trip 7

started to slowly descend below the

glide slope. Because the first officer

had not disengaged the autopilot earlier

in the approach, the automation

attempted to catch the glide slope again

by raising the nose of the aircraft and

moving the thrust levers forward. But as

the engines were stuck, these commands

only caused the air speed to drop even

further, pushing the aircraft closer and

closer to entering an aerodynamic stall.

At 300 ft, this stall would be unreoverable.

Although the engines did not respond to

any input, they continued operating at

just above idle power and did not shut

down. There was no sound or visible

damage that could have explained the

sudden behavior to the pilots. So what

could have caused the issue at the most

critical stage of the flight? As is the

case with many accidents, it was a

combination of actions and environmental

conditions that led to the events of

flight 38.

The Boeing 7 has a total of three tanks,

one in each wing, as well as the center

tank located in the fuselage. By design,

the center tank was to be used before

fuel could be supplied from the wing

tanks. Although the fuel in the center

tank was fairly warm after takeoff, as

it traveled to the engines via the fuel

feed lines routed through the main

tanks, it began to gradually cool down

to freezing temperatures. The fuel

itself did not freeze, but the exposure

to this cold weather turned small water

droplets within it into ice crystals.

The temperature of the fuel during the

first few hours fell within what's known

as the sticky range, allowing the ice

crystals to form a slushy substance that

attached to the inner surface of the

fuel lines.

Although it may seem unusual, jet fuel

is known to contain water in very minor

concentrations. And due to the low

temperatures at high altitudes in which

aircraft operate, this water is expected

to freeze. Aircraft and engine

manufacturers have designed fuel systems

with consideration for the presence of

ice crystals.

For that reason, before fuel is supplied

to the engine, it passes through a fuel

oil heat exchanger, a vital engine

component that roots hot engine oil

around cold fuel lines, thus reducing

the temperature of the oil and warming

up the fuel before it is supplied to the

engine. Ice passing through the heat

exchanger melts and returns to liquid

form, ensuring uninterrupted engine operation.

operation.

However, because the crew of Flight 38

used the vertical speed mode to change

cruise altitudes, the fuel flow within

the aircraft's fuel feed lines remained

relatively low, and it was not strong

enough to push the ice crystals toward

the fuel oil heat exchanger. Instead,

once the aircraft flew through a region

of cold weather, the fuel cooled down

further, solidifying the ice that had

accumulated inside the fuel lines. It

was not until the aircraft began its

approach to London that the outside air

temperatures increased again, warming up

and softening the ice. Once the airliner

turned onto the final approach course

and established on the ILS, several wind

gusts shook the plane around, causing

its air speed to fluctuate. The auto

throttle responded to these drops in air

speed with multiple quick adjustments to

engine thrust.

Combined with a few jolts from light

turbulence, the resulting sudden

increase in fuel flow broke off the

softened chunks of ice inside the fuel

lines and sent them toward the engines.

Too big to pass through the mesh screens

of the fuel oil heat exchangers and

still too cold to thaw completely, the

ice continued to build up on the faces

of the heat exchangers. By the time

flight 38 descended below 1,000 ft, a

critical amount had accumulated, almost

completely cutting off the fuel supply

Back in the flight deck, still trying to

make the engines respond to the thrust

levers. The flight crew received an

airspeed low message on the engine

indicating and crew alerting system.

Programmed to maintain the glide slope,

the autopilot continued to raise the

nose of the aircraft and the air speed

dropped to 115 knots, 20 knots below the

desired approach speed. Coming to a

shocking realization that the aircraft

was too low, too slow, and still too far

from the runway, the captain moved the

It would cause the aircraft to lose some

lift, but moving the flaps up would also

reduce drag, allowing the crew to stay

in the air longer and increasing their

chances of reaching the runway. In a

matter of seconds, the trip 7 lost

another 7 knots of air speed, coming

dangerously close to reaching stall speed.

As a final warning to the flight crew

about the hazardous condition, the

aircraft's stick shaker, a mechanical

device attached to each pilot's yoke,

became active, sending strong vibrations

through the control columns.

Responding to the stick shaker, First

Officer Coward pushed the yoke down,

lowering the nose of the trip 7 and

preventing it from losing any more air speed.

speed.

Following manual flight control input

from the first officer, the autopilot

disconnected. The crew had avoided the

stall, but they continued to lose

altitude at a much higher than normal

rate. One thing became clear to the

pilots. They were not going to make it

to the runway. As the first officer

pulled back on the yoke to reduce the

descent rate, the captain made a mayday

call on the tower radio frequency.

Mayday. Mayday. Speed bird. speed 95 95.

He did not have time to warn the cabin

crew and instruct the passengers to take

the brace position. Thus, nobody on the

other side of the flight deck door

realized that they were mere seconds

from a crash landing and shortly after

Aircraft accident. Aircraft accident.

Aircraft. The position is the threshold

runway 27 left. Aircraft type is a

triple 7.

Flight 38 made ground contact only 330 m

short of the runway. Upon impacting the

ground, its landing gear collapsed and

the right landing gear punctured the

fuselage, severely injuring one of the

passengers. As the aircraft slid further

toward the runway, it veered to the

right before coming to a complete stop.

Despite the hard impact, the fuselage

remained largely intact. Many passengers

and crew members received minor

injuries, but by a true miracle,

everyone on board Flight 38 survived.

The story of British Airways Flight 38

shows how quickly a tiny design flaw can

turn a routine flight into a life or

death situation.

At the time of the accident, the effects

of ice accumulation within aircraft fuel

systems were not well understood, and

the investigation team spent months

recreating multiple scenarios before

making a determination that the design

of the fuel oil heat exchangers was the

most likely cause.

Postac accident calculations showed that

Captain Burkel's decision to retract the

flaps shortly before the impact resulted

in the aircraft traveling some 50 m

further. This seemingly short distance

allowed the trip 7 to overfly the ILS

antenna of runway 27 left without

contacting it. The damage from such a

collision was likely to have been more

severe. In November of the same year,

while the investigation into this

accident was still in progress, a Delta

Airlines 7 experienced an uncommanded

roll back of an engine while in cruise

flight due to the same issue. The flight

crew of that flight, however, was able

to clear the blockage by setting both

engines to idle power as they were at a

higher altitude, a luxury that the

pilots of flight 38 did not have.

The results of the British Airways

accident and the Delta Airlines incident

have forced the engine manufacturer

Rolls-Royce to review the structure of

the fuel oil heat exchanger, eventually

leading to a newer design that was no

Thanks again to War Thunder for

sponsoring this video. You can play it

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Xbox, or mobile using the link in the

pinned comment or video description. If

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for at least 6 months on PC or console,

you'll also get a massive bonus pack

that includes multiple premium vehicles,

100,000 silver lions, 7 days of premium

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