Boeing 737-236 series 1, G-BGJL: Main document - Leonardo

This engine was delivered new to British Airtours in January 1980whilst fitted to aircraft G-BGDE.
It had had three unscheduledremovals in September 1982, August 1983 and October 1984. It
wasfitted to G-BGJL on 7 February 1985. At the time of the accidentit had run 9,946 hours/7,172
cycles since new. There are no indicationsthat the performance of this engine played any significant
partin the sequence of events which led up to the accident.
1.6.2.3 Entries in the aircraft's technical log concerning performanceof the left engine and
associated rectification action
The aircraft's technical log and technical records were examinedto determine the number and nature
of crew-reported defects onthe left engine since the installation of engine serial No P702868in
February 1984. Of particular interest were flight crew reportsof slow acceleration, slow start and
throttle stagger (see paragraph1.17.2). A large number of these were found as detailed below:-
Throttle Stagger
Slow Acceleration
Slow Acceleration
& Throttle Stagger
Slow Start
25.9.84 18.2.84 11.2.84 11.7.85
14.6.85 6.5.84 16.6.85 16.7.85
6.5.84 20.8.85
6.11.84 21.8.85*
29.12.84
29.12.84
16.1.85*
17.1.85
25.1.85
29.7.85.
5.8.85
Dates marked with an asterisk * indicate where the flight crewalso commented on a low ground
idle N2.
Slow acceleration is based on the time taken for the engine toreach the "stand up" setting of 1.4
EPR from groundidle.(" stand up" - both throttle levers moved to thevertical)
"Throttle stagger" refers to a mismatch in the positionof the pilot's throttle levers when the EPR for
both engines arematched. In all cases where throttle stagger was reported, theleft engine lever was
forward of the right engine lever to achievethe same EPR.
The three log entries for the month of August, 1985 are discussedin greater detail later in this
section. The other 16 entrieswere dealt with in a variety of ways, including times when thecrew
were asked to accept the aircraft and to report further onthe symptoms - on occasions no further
crew comment was made.Where actual work was performed on the aircraft, it was alwaysof a
minor nature (eg checking the PS4 line for leaks and moisturecontamination, checking engine bleed
air for leaks). This rectificationaction appeared to cure the symptoms and, consequently, at notime
was the engine combustion section checked for a disruptedgas path. Trim runs (see paragraph