On August 12, an easyJet Airbus A320-214 en route from Milan-Malpensa Airport to Lisbon took off okay, but pieces of the plane were falling.
The control tower spotted the debris on the runway.
After losing parts of the engine cowling, pilots made a safe, if dramatic landing back at the Milan-Malpensa. None of the 174 passengers and crew sustained injury, though most of them went through an emotional roller coaster, especially when a passenger screamed out that “A piece of the wing has gone flying.”
Pilots circled for twenty minutes before landing; then after landing safely, when pilots put engines into reverse, more stuff fell off the engine. Although fire engines were on standby, standby is all they had to do. Passengers and crew exited via the staircase.
In a genius of understatement, Easyjet confirmed “flight EZY2715 from Milan Malpensa Airport to Lisbon on 12 August returned from airborne shortly after take off due to a technical issue with one of the engines.”
Passengers were provided an alternative flight.
I don’t make a lot of comments, due to my copious free time, but I can’t resist. In the meantime while waiting for the updates, we are considering shipping easyJet some Superglue, or maybe a certified mechanic or two. In the words of mechanics everywhere, lefty loosie, righty tighty. I am no mechanic, but this smells to me like…dare I say it…
Maintenance! Maintenance! Maintenance!
Not to make light of the situation though–airline safety is no joke. We expect there will be public updates about the investigation into this incident.
Air France flight AF-166 made an emergency landing at Charles de Gaulle Airport, France, on December 12th.
Spirit Airlines flight NK-713 had to return and make an emergency landing in Orlando, Florida, on August 19th.
Ryanair flight FR-5214 returned to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, Germany, on January 29th.
American Airlines flight AA-793 had to return and make an emergency landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 15th.