The tip of a screwdriver left inside a jet engine on a Jetstar A320 plane caused flames and an aborted take-off at Brisbane Airport last year, a report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has found.
Key points:
- The tip of a screwdriver was left in the plane’s jet engine after maintenance checks
- Pilots aborted take-off after the plane diverted from its route and flames broke out in the engine
- Jetstar’s head of safety says the incident is “incredibly rare”
The Jetstar flight bound for Cairns was preparing for take-off in Brisbane in October last year, when the crew felt a vibration and heard a popping noise.
At the same time, the plane diverged to the right of the runway despite efforts from the first officer.
The plane was brought to a stop after the captain selected reverse thrust.
Passengers onboard and staff in the air traffic control tower reported seeing flames coming from the right engine.
All passengers and crew disembarked safely once the aircraft had returned to the gate.
Engineers investigating later found metallic debris in the tailpipe of the aircraft’s right engine.
When it was disassembled, a removable screwdriver tip was found in the combustion section.
Screwdriver tip in engine ‘for over 100 flights’
The report released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) today found the screwdriver tip had been in the engine “for over 100 flights”.
Supplied: Australian Transport Safety Bureau
)ATSB director of transport safety Stuart McLeod said the tool part had been left in the engine after the plane had undergone maintenance.
“When the engine was running, it entered the high-pressure compressor, leaving dents and nicks in numerous rotor blades and stator vanes,” Mr McLeod said.
He said tool control was “an important part of maintenance processes”.
Jetstar’s head of safety Mike Chapman described the incident as “extremely rare”.
“When commencing take-off, our pilots detected a problem with the right engine,” Mr Chapman said.
“They aborted the take-off at a very low speed and returned to the gate.
“We reported the event to the ATSB in accordance with regulations and assisted them in their investigation.
“We’ve issued a safety update to our engineering team on tooling checks and procedures to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
