British Airways Flight 38

BRITISH AIRWAYS BOEING 777-236 G-YMMG (MSN 30308)

British Airways Flight 38 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China (PEK/ZBAA), to London Heathrow Airport in London United Kingdom (LHR/EGLL), an 8,100-kilometre (5,033 mile) trip. On the 17th of January 2008, the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft operating the flight (registered as G-YMMM) crashed-landed short of runway 27L at Heathrow. Of the 152 people on board, no fatalities resulted, but 47 people were injured, 1 of them seriously. The aircraft was written off, becoming the first hull loss of a Boeing 777.

The accident was investigated by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and a final report was issued in 2010. Ice crystals in the jet fuel were blamed as the cause of the accident, clogging the fuel/oil heat exchanger (FOHE) of each engine. This restricted fuel flow to the engines when thrust was demanded during the final approach to Heathrow. The AAIB identified this rare problem as specific to Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engine FOHEs. Rolls-Royce developed a modification to the FOHE; the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) mandated all affected aircraft to be fitted with the modification before the 1st of January 2011. 

The US Federal Aviation Administration noted a similar incident occurring on an Airbus A330 fitted with Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines and ordered an airworthiness directive to be issued, mandating the redesign of the FOHE in Rolls-Royce Trent 500, 700, and 800 engines.

On the afternoon of the 20th of January 2008, two cranes lifted the aircraft onto wheeled platforms and removed it from its resting place. It was towed towards Heathrow's BA maintenance hangars base for storage and further inspections by the AAIB. After assessment of the damage and repair costs, the aircraft was declared to be damaged beyond economic repair (despite still being largely intact) and written off, becoming the first Boeing 777 hull loss in history. It was broken up and scrapped in the spring of 2009.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: British Airways

Code: BA/BAW

Callsign: Speedbird

Registration: G-YMMM

Serial Number: 30314

Engines: 2 x RR Trent 895

First Flew: 18/05/2001

Age: 6.6 Years

As of May 2024, there have been 31 aviation incidents and accidents involving the Boeing 777, resulting in 542 fatalities. This includes five hull loss accidents.
Some of the well know incidents are:

• Asiana Airlines Flight 214: The first fatal accident involving a Boeing 777.
• Emirates Flight 521: A scheduled passenger flight from Thiruvananthapuram, India to Dubai, 
• Malaysia Airlines flight 370: A Boeing 777 with 227 passengers and 12 crew members that went missing.