 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
B777 flight crew experiences compressor stalls in the left engine during initial descent for landing. The engine is allowed to continue running and an uneventful landing at destination ensues.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1064220 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201301 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B777 Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Turbine Engine |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Not Flying |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 20000 Flight Crew Type 7500 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Relief Pilot Pilot Not Flying |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
We were being rerouted for thunderstorms affecting airports in the area. Initially; we were at FL320; in and out of turbulence. We descended to FL280 for a better ride. Shortly after level cruise; we felt a jolt; like wake turbulence. I saw no aircraft on TCAS that could have been the cause. So we didn't think anything more about it. A little while thereafter; we heard a banging noise; and we looked at the engine gauges but could not determine which engine might have been the cause. I turned the right throttle off; thinking that might have been it. We retarded the throttle slightly to see if that would identify the cause. It ran smoothly; so we re-engaged the right autothrottle. As the engine was coming up; we got the bang again and noticed the fluctuation on the left engine. At that point; we turned off the left autothrottle and retarded the left engine. At that point; we decided we needed to run the checklist for that engine. We declared an emergency and asked for vectors to destination. We thought that was the best option because thunderstorms were at the field at our alternate and also between us and the alternate. We followed all checklists and accomplished a safe landing. We asked for fire trucks to meet us on landing; they checked out the aircraft; and we continued our taxi to the gate.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: B777 flight crew experiences compressor stalls in the left engine during initial descent for landing. The engine is allowed to continue running and an uneventful landing at destination ensues.
Narrative: We were being rerouted for thunderstorms affecting airports in the area. Initially; we were at FL320; in and out of turbulence. We descended to FL280 for a better ride. Shortly after level cruise; we felt a jolt; like wake turbulence. I saw no aircraft on TCAS that could have been the cause. So we didn't think anything more about it. A little while thereafter; we heard a banging noise; and we looked at the engine gauges but could not determine which engine might have been the cause. I turned the right throttle off; thinking that might have been it. We retarded the throttle slightly to see if that would identify the cause. It ran smoothly; so we re-engaged the right autothrottle. As the engine was coming up; we got the bang again and noticed the fluctuation on the left engine. At that point; we turned off the left autothrottle and retarded the left engine. At that point; we decided we needed to run the checklist for that engine. We declared an emergency and asked for vectors to destination. We thought that was the best option because thunderstorms were at the field at our alternate and also between us and the alternate. We followed all checklists and accomplished a safe landing. We asked for fire trucks to meet us on landing; they checked out the aircraft; and we continued our taxi to the gate.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.