Delta Air Lines Flight 30
Delta Air Lines Flight 30 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Atlanta, Georgia, to London, England. On April 18, 2018, the Airbus A330-323 operating the flight experienced an engine fire after takeoff from Atlanta. The aircraft immediately returned to Atlanta and made an emergency landing. All 288 people on board survived without any injuries. However, the aircraft was substantially damaged, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) classified the event as an accident. This accident occurred one day after Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 also experienced an engine failure, albeit more severe which depressurized  the cabin and killed a passenger. Aircraft and crew. The aircraft involved was an Airbus A330-323 registered as N806NW that was originally delivered to Northwest Airlines in 2004. In 2009 the aircraft was transferred to Delta following its merger with Northwest. It was powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW4168A turbofan engines and was 14 years old at the time of the accident. The flight crew consisted of two captains, one of whom was also a line check airman, and two first officers, one a relief crew member. The captain and pilot in command was 60-year-old Daniel Hancock , who was undergoing his first line check on the Airbus A330. He had 18,730 flight hours, including 260 hours on the Airbus A330. He occupied the left seat.<ref name="operational/human factors"></ref> The captain/line check airman was 62-year-old James Miller, who was monitoring Hancock's progress. Miller had 15,906 flight hours and was seated in the cockpit jump seat. The first officer in the cockpit at the time was 50-year-old John Prendergast, who had logged 9,056 flight hours with 748 of them on the Airbus A330. The relief first officer was 39-year-old Iyob  Makonnen, who had 4,740 flight hours. Accident. Flight 30 departed Atlanta at 17:51 EST. At 18:09 and at an altitude of , the aircraft's no 2. (right) engine caught on fire, indicated by the fire alarm sounding and an engine no 2 fire message being displayed on the A330's electronic centralized aircraft monitor (ECAM). The crew of another aircraft also reported seeing thick smoke emitting from the engine. The flight crew declared an emergency to air traffic control and requested to land on 27L using a longer approach so that the necessary checklists could be performed. The flight crew  also noted that there would be "hot brakes," likely indicating that maximum braking would be used on landing. The flight crew then activated both fire extinguishers and climbed to . Airport rescue and firefighting (ARFF) vehicles were alerted of the situation. At 18:34, 25 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft landed on runway 27L and was met by the ARFF vehicles, which extinguished the no 2 engine. The aircraft then returned to the gate where the passengers disembarked. Passengers on board the flight took videos of the engine failure. A news photographer on board said that the crew was able "to keep  everyone calm" and that nobody panicked. Investigation. The accident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) with assistance from the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA). As of October 2021, the cause has not yet been determined. On October 6, 2021 the public docket was released, containing details about the crew, interviews, engine reports, and other pertinent information. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was unusable as the data from the accident flight had been overwritten by other recordings. This was one of several occurrences in which pertinent CVR data was lost (all  of the occurrences involved two-hour recorders, which met the current requirements) listed in a 2018 NTSB report calling for 25-hour cockpit voice recorders. Aftermath. The passengers were later put on another Delta Air Lines flight to London. N806NW was repaired and returned to service with Delta Air Lines. Delta continues to use the flight number 30 on the same route.