Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pacific Ocean, --
Friday, July 30, 2010 6:00 UTC

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On July 30, 2010 at about 12:55 PM (local) a Qantas Boeing 747-400, registration VH-OJP, flight QF-74, experienced an uncontained No. 4 engine failure about 45 minutes after departure from San Francisco, CA. The flight crew reported that the failure occurred as the airplane was climbing through FL250. There were 212 passengers and 19 crewmembers aboard. The flight destination was Sydney, NS, Australia. The crew shut the engine down, descended the aircraft to FL200, dumped fuel over the Pacific Ocean and returned to San Francisco for a safe landing about 80 minutes after departure. No injuries were reported. Post-event inspection found a large hole in the outboard side of the No. 4 engine nacelle, in the vicinity of the engine turbine section. Additional airframe damage has not been reported. The airplane is powered by Rolls-Royce RB211 turbofan engines. This incident is being investigated by Australia's Air Transport Safety Board (ATSB). For further information please contact - Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) P.O. Box 967, Civic Square Canberra A.C.T. 2608 Australia Tele: (61) 2 6257-4150 (24/7 Notifications) (61) 2 6274-6464 (International liaison) E-mail: atsbinfo@atsb.gov.au (International liaison) Website: http://www.atsb.gov.au This report is for informational purposes and contains only information obtained for or released by Australia.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 7/30/2010
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 600
Event Time Zone Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Event City Pacific Ocean
Event State --
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 373700N
Event Location Longitude 1222200E
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions --
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury --
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency Foreign
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 1 2010 2:50PM
User who most recently changed record horc
Basic weather conditions --
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number --
NTSB Number ENG10WA048
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 129: Foreign
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BOEING
Aircraft Model 747
Aircraft Series Identifier 438
Aircraft Serial Number 25545
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? --
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 4
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Qantas Airways Limited
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country AS
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country AS
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight International
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SFO
Departure City San Francisco
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code SYD
Destination City Sydney
Destination State --
Destination Country AS
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 1 2010 12:48PM
User who most recently changed record horc
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --