Investigators have determined that fuel entered the oil system of the right engine of the Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER that caught fire at Singapore Changi Airport on June 27. The breach resulted from a crack in a tube in the engine’s main fuel oil heat exchanger (MFOHE), according to an interim report issued by the Air Accident Investigation Bureau of Singapore. Engine maker GE Aviation had issued a Service Bulletin in December 2014 calling for the removal of certain MFOHEs, inspection for cracks in their fuel tubes and for repairs and certain “improvement works,” it added. While GE recommended that operators conduct the actions no later than the next engine shop visit, the engine that caught fire had last undergone a shop visit in March 2014, nine months before the company issued the bulletin.
Flight SQ368 caught fire after returning to Changi Airport some two hours into a flight to Milan. The crew diverted after a cockpit indicator for its right GE90-115B engine had shown oil loss. Shortly after landing at 6:50 a.m. local time, the airplane’s wing caught fire near the right engine. Already on standby, Changi’s airport emergency service responded immediately and extinguished the fire within five minutes.
All 222 passengers and 19 crewmembers evacuated the crippled airplane unharmed after firefighters put out the fire.
As a result of its findings, the AAIB has recommended that GE accelerate implementation of the recommendations in its main fuel oil heat exchanger Service Bulletin to prevent another fire from fuel leaking into the engine oil system. It also recommended that Boeing review the need for specific procedures for flight crew in the event a similar fuel leak arises in flight.