Air India A320 at Kochi on Aug 21st 2014, crew was radioed about smoke from engine, uncontained engine failure

An Air India Airbus A320-200, registration VT-ESI performing flight AI-47 from Kochi to Delhi (India) with 182 people on board, was in the initial climb out of Kochi at about 21:00L (15:30Z), with a delay of one hour due to late arrival on the inbound flight, when the crew was radioed about smoke emanating from an engine (V2500). The crew stopped the climb and returned to Kochi for a safe landing about 15 minutes after departure.

The flight departed again about 45 minutes after landing and reached Delhi with a delay of 2 hours.

India's largest newspaper reported (in contradiction to all other reliable sources in India and about 10 hours after those sources) that the crew received an engine fire indication and shut the engine down. Then the paper exercised even prose poetry: "What made matters worse was that Kochi had bad weather at that time with thundery monsoon clouds covering the sky and strong winds blowing. However with a serious engine fire warning alarm, there was no time to jettison fuel. Captain ..... made one of the most difficult landings that any pilot can expect to make in his or her career. 'He climbed to about 3,000 feet and then returned to Kochi. The plane landed safely and he took it right to the terminal.'"

The Metars however show thunderstorms setting in at 23:00L (17:30Z) only and no strong winds at all. Needless to also point out a good number of impossibilities (e.g. jettison) and the contradiction in this report: that the aircraft was taken right to the terminal after this difficult landing with an ongoing serious fire alarm ...

On Sep 2nd 2014 the French BEA reported in their weekly bulletin quoting India's Accident Investigation Board, that during initial climb the crew declared emergency due to the failure of the right hand engine, shortly afterwards the engine fire indication came on and the aircraft returned to Kochi. Post flight examination showed the low pressure turbine stage 4 blades were partly sheared and some metal debris was found in the engine exhaust. Thrust reverser duct C was also found damaged. India's AIB rated the occurrence a serious incident and opened an investigation.

On Oct 14th 2014 the NTSB reported that the right hand engine (V2500) suffered an uncontained failure, the crew received an engine fire warning, shut the engine down and return to Kochi. Post flight visual inspection showed damage to the stage 4 low pressure turbine blades and metal debris in the exhaust as well as impact damage to the thrust reverser cowls consistent with an uncontained engine failure. India's AAIB is investigating the occurrence rated an incident (editor's note: not a serious incident), the NTSB have accredited a representative to assist the investigation.

Metars:

VOCI 211930Z 00000KT 4000 HZ SCT012 FEW025CB OVC080 25/24 Q1006 NOSIG

VOCI 211830Z 08003KT 4000 TS SCT012 FEW025CB OVC080 25/23 Q1007 NOSIG

VOCI 211800Z 34003KT 4000 TS SCT012 FEW025CB OVC080 25/24 Q1007 NOSIG

VOCI 211730Z 33005KT 4000 TS SCT012 FEW025CB OVC080 25/24 Q1007 TEMPO RA

VOCI 211630Z 05003KT 4000 HZ SCT012 FEW025CB OVC080 25/23 Q1007 NOSIG

VOCI 211600Z 12006KT 4000 HZ SCT015 FEW025CB OVC080 25/23 Q1007 NOSIG

VOCI 211530Z 12006KT 4000 HZ SCT015 FEW025CB(N) OVC080 25/24 Q1007 NOSIG

VOCI 211500Z 10005KT 4000 HZ SCT015 OVC080 26/24 Q1007 NOSIG

VOCI 211430Z 11004KT 4000 -DZ SCT015 OVC080 26/25 Q1006 NOSIG

VOCI 211400Z 00000KT 5000 HZ SCT018 OVC080 27/25 Q1006 NOSIG