Air Safety

The Wrong Engine

On January 8, 1989, a British Midlands Airways Boeing 737-400 crashed while making an emergency approach to land at East Midlands Airport, Leicestershire, UK, following an inflight engine shutdown because of a suspected fire in the No 2 engine.

The accident, which occurred on short finals after the No 1 engine lost all power, generated much controversy over the reasons for the crew shutting down the wrong engine, and rightly became the subject of concern throughout the aviation industry worldwide. At one stage there was even speculation that the aircraft’s engine instrumentation wiring had somehow been reversed during manufacture.

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