Longtail B747 loses engine parts
On 20 February, a Longtail Aviation Boeing 747-400 (VQ-BWT, msn 24975), operating flight LGT5504 from Maastricht-Aachen Airport, the Netherlands, to New York-JFK (NY), was in the initial climb out of Maastricht's runway 21 when the #1 engine (PW4056, outboard left hand) suffered a uncontained failure. It began to distribute engine parts (turbine blades) over the village of Meerssen, Limburg province, about one to two nautical miles past the runway end.
The crew declared a Pan Pan, then upgraded to a Mayday, and reported they had lost the #1 engine. The aircraft stopped the climb at FL100 (10,000ft), entered a hold to dump fuel and diverted to Liege, Belgium, for a safe landing on runway 23L, about one hour after departure.
A number of cars on the ground received damage as a result of debris falling, and an elderly lady on the ground was hit by the debris and received minor injuries.
The police in Meerssen requested local residents to leave any debris in place and inform police. The airport reported one of the engines lost pieces of its turbine after take-off, the aircraft subsequently diverted to Liege on three engines. Metal pieces fell down in the vicinity of Meerssen, there were several reports of damages.
