Dramatic news images have emerged showing the devastation caused to the British Airways jet that caught fire while attempting to take off at Las Vegas airport yesterday.
The close-up images appear to show for the first time how one side of the engine exploded, before throwing hot metal and burning fuel into the side of the aircraft, sparking a huge blaze.
The metal covering one side of the Boeing 777's engine appears to have been blown outwards, while the underside of the wing and nearby fuselage are badly burned, suggesting the fire was coming from that opening.
Close up images of British Airways Flight 2276 that caught fire yesterday at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport seem to show how the engine exploded on one side before belching fire towards the cabin
BA has officially blamed the accident on a 'technical fault', but aviation experts said images showing the General Electric GE90 engine has been badly damaged on one side suggested there had been an 'uncontrolled explosion'
The images also show how the flames ripped through the outer shell of the plane and wing in just a few minutes, threatening to burn through into the cabin, which could have proved disastrous for the 170 passengers and crew on board
This picture was posted on Twitter of investigators examining the scene after the fire. The section of the plane under the wing has been completely destroyed in an apparent explosion
The new pictures also show how close the flames came to burning their way through the exterior of the plane and into the cabin, threatening the lives of all 170 passengers and crew who were on board at the time.
British Airways Flight 2276 was preparing for takeoff at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas around midday yesterday heading to Gatwick in the UK when there was a 'huge explosion' as the plane reached around 90mph.
While BA has issued a statement simply saying the accident was caused by a 'technical issue', aircraft experts have told ABC News that it appears as if the engine exploded during takeoff.
Col. Steve Ganyard, an aviation consultant for the news channel, said: 'The engine really just exploded. After they put the fire out, you could see how clearly that fire came to almost penetrating into the cabin.'
Pilot Chris Henkey, 63, who has flown with the airline for more than 40 years, was hailed as a 'hero' today after he managed to stop the aircraft within just nine second of the blaze breaking out, before radioing for help.
Despite his aircraft being engulfed in black smoke, Mr Henkey can be heard calmly calling the radio tower, saying: 'Mayday, Mayday, Speedbird 2276 request fire services. We are evacuating on the runway, we have a fire, I repeat, we are evacuating.'
While the outer side of the engine appears virtually unharmed, then inside seems to have been torn open, with the metal bent outwards
There is also a clear line of damage between the engine and the fuselage which seems to suggest that fire and debris was thrown from the inner edge of the engine and into the plane
Despite flames and smoke engulfing the plane, some passengers have said today that people stopped to collect their bags before getting off, blocking the aisles and delaying the evacuatio
The Boeing 777 jet was departing from McCarran International Airport bound for Gatwick in the UK around midday yesterday when there was a 'loud explosion' as it reached 90mph on takeoff
Passengers described fleeing the cabin as it began to heat up from the blaze outside, while 14 people were treated in hospital for smoke inhalation or injuries sustained while trying to exit the plane down the emergency slides.
Today, relative of Mr Henkey told of how he has never experienced a major problem with an aircraft before, but had a brush with death once during a car crash in his vintage MG Midget in the 1980s.
Mr Henkey's long-term partner Lenka Nevolna has also spoken of her pride in his actions today, revealing that the pair actually got engaged in April. It also emerged that the accident occurred just a week before Mr Henkey is due to retire.
Passengers today revealed how, despite the danger, some people delayed evacuating the plane by stopping to grab their bags, blocking the aisles.
Images taken from the runway by passengers fleeing from the flames and smoke clearly showed some people carrying their cases and jackets, having presumably removed them from the overhead luggage storage.
A team from the National Transportation Safety Board in currently en-route to Vegas from Washington DC in order to carry out an investigation into what caused the engine to disintegrate.
A preliminary report is expected within a week or so, though the full report could take as much as a year to compile, given that this is an unusual case.
Pilot Chris Henkey, 63 (left), was today hailed a hero for stopping the plane in just nine seconds before calmly radioing for help, while long term girlfriend Lena Nevolna told of how she got engaged to Mr Henkey back in April
Pilot Chris Henkey, 63, who has flown with the airline for more than 40 years, was hailed as a 'hero' today after he managed to stop the aircraft within just nine second of the blaze breaking out, before radioing for help
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are en-route to Vegas from Washington DC to probe what went wrong with the aircraft, with a preliminary report expected within a week
The Boeing 777 is the second safest aircraft in the skies today, according to data from FearofFlying.com, having just one accident per 18million hours of flying time completed.
There have been just a handful of accidents in the plane's 19-year flying history, and only one with fatalities. On that occasion the plane landed short of the runway in San Francisco, killing three people on board.
The only aircraft that is safer than the 777 is the Airbus A340, which has never suffered an accident, despite
General Electric, which manufactures the plane's two giant GE90 engines has also pointed out that the machine has an 'outstanding' safety record since being introduced in 1955.
A spokesman said: 'Based on the engine fleet's service history, we are not aware of any operational issues that would hazard the continued safe flight of aircraft powered by these engines.'
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