British Airtours Flight 28M

Introduction
British Airtours Flight 28M was a package tour flight from Manchester to Corfu, Greece. The plane caught fire on the runway and an evacuation was quickly performed.

Pilots
Captain Peter Terrington and First Officer Brian Love made the short trip down the runway, and both pilots survive the accident.

'There's A Lot of Fire'
Whilst increasing in speed on the runway, the pilots heard a thump noise coming from underneath aircraft. Captain Terrington aborted the take-off as he thought he might have burst a tire. He activated the thrust reversers and began to stop the aircraft. First Officer Love held the breaks down for a few seconds, but he was then stopped by Captain Terrington as he thought this could further damage the tire. Fire alarms then begin to sound in the cockpit, and the flight crew are now concerned about their aircraft's state. The fire was confirmed by the ATC officer on duty, after he said 'right, there's a lot of fire'. Fire rescue teams had already been dispatched as large billows of black smoke were coming from the plane, and the fire teams could see it from where they were. The controller suggested to evacuate the passengers out of the right side of the plane, as the fire seemed to be on the left side of the plane.

Getting Out
The plane came to a stop after turning onto the taxiway, and passengers were already scrambling to get out. One of the emergency slides at the front of the plane was stuck, and the door wouldn't budge. After a bit more trying on the left side, the door finally opened. The slide deployed, and two fire engines were now at the scene. One was focused on putting out the fire on the fuselage, and the other was firing foam at the open door to help people get through and to cool others who were still in the plane.

The 737 had narrow doors, and some passengers were having trouble getting through them. One flight attendant was helping to get everyone out as fast as possible, whilst the other was trying to open the jammed right door. The right door eventually opened, and passengers began to file out that door as the fire was on the left side. The two fight attendants who helped to get others out and open the right door both made it out alive.

The passengers in the centre of the 737 began to try and open the overwing doors as they were the closest to them. The left door was immediately ruled out as the fire and smoke was sitting directly outside the door. The person sat next to the right door had trouble working out how to open the door, but managed to get it open. However, it opened inward and fell onto a passenger, trapping them in their seat. The door was quickly moved and passengers soon began to get out the plane. But the way out was still difficult to get through, as the gap was narrow and the door was positioned directly next to a seat, meaning passengers had to crawl across the seat or manoeuvre around it. Passengers at the very back of the plane were also having issues, as smoke was now very prominent. They had to clamber over the seats in able to find their way to the exit, and many reported that the aisle had become blocked by bodies. It was also found that a seat located in the exit row had fallen over, further blocking the exit. A 14-year-old boy was found on one of the seats by a firefighter about five minutes after the aircraft stopped, and the firefighter brought him out the plane to find that he was alive, but had suffered burns to his hands. The boy was the last person to make it out alive.

The Cause
It was soon found that the left engine was at fault for the accident. The engine had a small hole in the combustion area, which is where the force that allows the plane to move is created. The gases in this area are very heated, and fuel seeped into the hole. The fuel set on fire and created the first thump as jet fuel can be explosive when encountering fire. The fire, which was bad enough on it's own, then spread to the back of the plane as the winds carried the flames. This motion of the fire can clearly be seen on the map showing fatalities (see above) as the further back in the plane you get, the more likely the fatality. Most passengers died after consuming too much of the toxic fumes, including one who escaped the aircraft but died in hospital 6 days later. A total of 15 were seriously injured, and 55 were killed. But those 55 deaths were not in vain, as this accident has nearly the largest effect on aviation today.

What Was Done
After the accident, multiple aspects of airliners were changed to the way we see them today. Passengers struggled to exit the aircraft as the doors were tight and narrow. This point forced aircraft producers to make wider doors, as a similar accident could kill many more if they stayed in that state. As well as doors, the seats next to them were changed slightly to help passengers get out. As mentioned before, passengers found it hard to get out the overwing exit as the seats in front of the door were packed in like any other row of seats. This then made sure that exit rows were wider so passengers could escape easier, and made that row more like an aisle that just other row. It also introduced the fact that people in the exit rows must be taught how to open the door, as this would make evacuations faster. One of the very major things that came out of this accident was the lights on the aisle floor. At first they may not seem like much, but when you are down on your last legs and smoke is all around you, they may be your last hope. This was also backed up by a previous accident, Air Canada Flight 797, which caught fire and managed to land. Passengers on that flight found it hard to find their way out the smoke, and only 23 people made it out alive. The defect which caused the emergency exit at the front of the plane to not open was fixed, and many other measures were put into place to make flying safer.

All four flight attendants (including the two at the back of the plane who died) were awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal, along with two firefighters who rescued passengers from the burning plane.

A similar accident, American Airlines Flight 383 (2016), took place long after this accident and due to the rules and regulations placed after this accident, all 170 aboard that flight survived.

May the 55 who lost their lives in the burning wreckage rest in peace.