Boeing 777 emergency landing in Moscow after engine problem

Moscow | Russia’s Boeing 777 engine from Russia had to make an emergency landing in Moscow on Friday, a week after a spectacular reactor incident on a similar plane in the United States.

“During Cargo Flight 4520 Hong Kong-Madrid, a fault in the engine control sensor was detected,” the company said in a statement sent to AFP, “Staff decided to make a landing emergency at Moscow airport in Sheremetyevo.”

“The landing was normal. The flight will return to Madrid after 12:00 (9:00 GMT),” said Rosia, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned Aeroflot.

According to websites specializing in flight tracking, the dubious aircraft is a Boeing 777-300ER.

Rosia later told AFP that all of its Boeing 777-300ERs were equipped with GE90 engines from the US manufacturer General Electric, a different model from those involved in last week’s accident in the US.

The Boeing 777’s reactor, operated by United Airlines, caught fire shortly after takeoff from Denver (western United States) and lost its fairing. As the plane was returning to the airport, a shower of debris fell on a residential area on the outskirts of Denver.

More than 120 Boeing 777s with some Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines are stable around the world after this spectacular event, according to Boeing, only American, Japanese and Korean companies are concerned.

The incident was another blow to Boeing, its new medium, the 737 MAX, was severely damaged by the setbacks, killing 346 people in two close accidents and banning flying for almost two years.

Engine failures are not uncommon in civil aviation and equipment is certified to travel several hours in one engine on arrival at the airport. A potential hazard arises when an engine explodes, in which debris can damage the rest of the aircraft.