Passengers on BA flight which burst into flames in Las Vegas sue plane and engine manufacturers

Passengers who were on board a British airways Boeing 777 which burst into flames on the tarmac at Las Vegas airport in September have launched a multi-million-dollar claim against the aircraft and engine manufacturers.

A writ seeking damages from Boeing and GE has been lodged in Chicago by 65 passengers, nearly all from the UK, seeking compensation for the pain, suffering and emotional stress they suffered when the aircraft was engulfed in flames and smoke moments before take off.

Other passengers are expected to join the claim which could be worth $100 million (£66 million).

Passengers on board another British Airways flight, the BA038 from Beijing which crash landed at Heathrow in January 2008, received substantial but undisclosed damages from Boeing and Rolls-Royce, the engine manufacturer.

Other cases have seen American juries award passengers up to $1 million each for trauma suffered during similar incidents.

In this case, it is alleged the aircraft and engines were “defective and unreasonably dangerous.”

There were 157 passengers and 13 crew on board the BA flight 2276 when the left engine suffered a catastrophic failure and caught fire shortly before take off in September.

The pilot succeeded in bringing the aircraft to a halt and those on board were evacuated using emergency slides, around 14 people needed hospital treatment for minor injuries.

“As the plane was accelerating down the runway, there was a loud bang and a sudden emergency stop,” said Dominic Worthington, one of the passengers taking legal action.

“First of all the crew told us to stay seated but I remember people started screaming ‘there’s a fire, there’s a fire!’

"I remember looking out the window and seeing smoke filling the air and I thought the whole aircraft was going to erupt in flames,” he added.

“I still suffer from the incident and have sleepless nights, flashbacks and stress. It’s difficult to get over something like this, you just don’t expect it would ever happen to you.”

According to the writ, a key engine component the high pressure compressor system, was defective.

The component, which squeezes air in the engine with fuel before burning, was subject to “fracture and failure".

Both companies, the writ says, should be held liable for the condition of the engine.

It was these defects which led to the “uncontained catastrophic failure” which culminated in the engine bursting into flames.

The two companies are also accused of lobbying against stricter inspection rules proposed by the American air safety watchdog, the Federal Aviation Administration.

"Our clients are not critical of BA and feel that the pilots and cabin crew performed heroically in guiding the aircraft to an emergency stop, and then evacuating all occupants,” said James Healy-Pratt of Stewarts Law, which is bringing the action.

“Our clients deserve the real truth of how this failure happened.”

A Boeing spokesman said the company sent information to airlines that had been made publicly available by the US accident investigators, the National Transportation Safety Board.

“If the investigation shows any specific Boeing-related actions are recommended or required, Boeing will notify operators.”

A spokesman for GE Aviation said it could not comment on the legal action because it had not received the writ.

“With regards to the specific aircraft incident, GE continues to support the US National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation of the event to determine the root cause.

“Since 1995, the GE90 engine has powered hundreds of Boeing 777 aircraft worldwide with extraordinary reliability.  Under any statistical measure, the GE90 engine family is among the most reliable engines in the history of commercial aviation.”