Engine implosion probed in jet crash
BANGKOK, Thailand A preliminary investigation into the Lauda Air disaster indicates engine failure may have caused the Boeing 767 to crash, a West European aviation expert close to the probe said today.
"Most attention is now focused on the possibility of an engine implosion," said the expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said that one wing, with an engine attached, was found 12 miles from the rest of the wreckage and significantly intact, possibly indicating that the wing broke off first and then the plane crashed.
But several aviation experts stressed that the findings still were preliminary and no conclusions could be drawn.
In Seattle, Boeing spokesman Jack Gamble said there had been "no findings of any sort by anybody at this point in time." He disputed the European expert's claim that one wing was found 12 miles from the wreckage.
"Both the engines and the wings are in the general area of the fuselage that they've found," he said. "The story is out that one wing is 12 miles away from the rest of the airplane, and that's not true."
The manufacturer of the two engines, Pratt & Whitney, said today the company had no indication of any engine problem.
"We have never had any problems with this engine," said spokesman Bob Goering in Hartford, Conn.
Meanwhile, Thai air force Group Capt. Danai Nanthasiri said the jet's "black boxes" would be sent to the National Transportation and Safety Board in Washington for examination.
Another Thai official said the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder would be sent to the United States tomorrow.
The plane had two jet engines, and the European expert did not say which may have imploded, or exploded inward.
The Lauda Air jet crashed Sunday in northwest Thailand, 16 minutes after takeoff from Bangkok. All 223 people aboard the plane were killed.
Previously, speculation had focused on a bomb. But the expert said "no evidence of any sort of explosive device" had been found so far.
Another aviation official agreed.
"We expected to see a larger area of debris," said Don Smith, regional manager for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, reached in Singapore. "If it had been an explosive device you would expect a larger area of debris."
A Thai aviation official who flew over the crash site said no shrapnel had been found on the plane or on bodies.
The Lauda Air flight was the first Boeing 767 to be lost in flight.
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