A FIRE that forced a Channel Express cargo plane to make an emergency landing in Jersey in 2001 was due to a ‘catastrophic engine failure’.

A recently released report from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch has concluded that the engine failure and fire was due to a cracked turbine disc in the left engine which then broke up and severed a fuel line.

No one was injured in the accident on 5 June and the three-man crew handled the situation as per the book, although failing to shut off the fuel supply on landing did result in some spillage when it finally parked.

The F-27 aircraft had just taken off from Jersey on its way to Bournemouth on a training flight.

17 seconds after take off over St Ouen’s Bay, the crew – which consisted of the airline’s chief F-27 pilot, a 24-year-old new first officer, who was being trained, and an experienced first officer in the central ‘jump seat’ – heard a loud bang and the left engine’s fire warning kicked in.