In its usual factual tone, the US Government agency responsible for air crash investigations has issued its first statement on the crash of the BA 777 at Las Vegas. The statement is as follows:

British Airways flight 2276, a Boeing 777-200ER, equipped with two GE90-85B engines, registration G-VIIO, was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 129 and was enroute to London – Gatwick Airport (LGW), Horley, England. 

• There were 157 passengers, including 1 lap child, and 13 crew members on board. There were several minor injuries as a result of the evacuation (mostly abrasions).
• The flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder and quick access recorder have arrived at the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Laboratory and are currently being downloaded.
• On Tuesday evening, the airplane was photographed and the runway debris documented by FAA and airport officials before airplane was towed to secluded area of the airport (in order to reopen the runway).
• Initial examination of the left engine revealed multiple breaches of the engine case in the area around the high pressure compressor.
• Examination of the material recovered from runway found several pieces of the high pressure compressor spool (approximately 7-8 inches in length).
• Initial examination of the airplane by NTSB revealed that the left engine and pylon, left fuselage structure and inboard left wing airplane were substantially damaged by the fire. This damage will be documented over the next several days.

 

All passengers and crew were safe after they evacuated down slides with just a few injuries. There has been consider criticism of some passengers who retrieved carry on items, including roller bags, before leaving the aircraft.