On Jan. 8, 1989, a British Midland Boeing 737-400 left London Heathrow Airport for Belfast, Northern Ireland, with eight crewmembers and 118 passengers. About 15 minutes into the flight, as the aircraft was climbing through 28,300 ft, a series of compressor stalls occurred in the left engine as a result of a fan blade detachment. Passengers and cabin crew heard an unusual noise, accompanied by moderate to severe vibration; some of those in the airplane were aware of smoke and a burning smell in the cabin, and many saw signs of distress from the left engine, which they described variously as fire, torching or sparks.1
On the flight deck, the pilots followed an emergency drill that led them to believe that the right engine had suffered damage. They reduced power and then shut down the healthy right engine without seeking observations from the cabin crew. The captain announced over the public address system that there was trouble with the right engine, that the engine was no…
