ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 264651
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| Date: | Friday 11 June 2021 |
| Time: | 13:27 UTC |
| Type: |  Boeing 777-236ER |
| Owner/operator: | British Airways |
| Registration: | G-YMMR |
| MSN: | 36516/771 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2009 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) |
| Accra-Kotoka Airport (ACC/DGAA) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A British Airways Boeing 777-200, registration G-YMMR performing flight BA-81 from London Heathrow (UK) to Accra (Ghana), was accelerating for takeoff from Heathrow's runway 27L when the crew rejected takeoff at about 80 KIAS due to unreliable air speed indications on all three pitot systems. The aircraft slowed safely and returned to the apron.
A replacement Boeing 777-200 registration G-YMMA reached Accra with a delay of about 5:15 hours.
The AAIB reported the occurrence was rated a serious incident and is being investigated, all three pitot systems provided unreliable air speed indications. In addition, British Airways had two more unreliable air speed events involving an A320-200 with 2 blocked pitot tubes and an A320-200N with one blocked pitot tube in about the same time frame.
The aircraft had been on the ground at LHR for five days before the occurrence and resumed service on 18 June 2021.
The AAIB indicated that two similar events occurred at a similar time, involving:
- a Boeing 777-200ER at London Heathrow Airport - Suffered rejected takeoff due to unreliable air speed indications on all 3 systems.
- an Airbus A320-251N at London Heathrow Airport - Returned to stand with an air data issue;1 of the 3 pitot tubes blocked.
UPDATE: The AAIB investigation into the incidents was published 27 January 2022, and the following is an excerpt from it..
"Between 9 June 2021 and 19 July 2021, several aircraft suffered from abnormal pitot/static system events, two of which resulted in rejected takeoffs. The AAIB investigation identified the cause to be the nesting activity of certain species of wasps and bees within pitot probes. This report addresses the likely reasons as to why there was a concentration of such events over a relatively short period of time.
Although Heathrow Airport and the surrounding area was the focus for these occurrences, detailed information on the environmental factors is provided for the operators of airfields at other locations to take into consideration. Safety action has been taken by the CAA and those airline operators affected to reduce the risk of reoccurrence by introducing additional inspections and changes to the use of pitot covers. In addition, the airport operator is updating its environmental hazard management plan to take into account the findings of this investigation".
Sources:
1. AAIB Final Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61f1028de90e070372b3aa81/Various_CAT_03-22.pdf
2. https://www.bea.aero/en/investigation-reports/notified-events/detail/serious-incident-to-a-boeing-777-operated-by-british-airways-on-11-06-2021-at-heathrow/
3. https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/three-airspeed-incidents-at-heathrow-trigger-alert-over-insect-blockage/144142.article
4. https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/a320neo-crews-told-to-stay-alert-for-abnormal-take-off-airspeeds/144277.article
5. https://www.flightglobal.com/eight-ba-and-virgin-jets-at-heathrow-suffered-insect-blockages-in-six-weeks/147291.article
6. https://mentourpilot.com/incident-all-airspeeds-unreliable-777-rejected-takeoff/
7. https://www.aeroinside.com/15835/british-airways-b772-at-london-on-jun-11th-2021-rejected-takeoff-due-to-unreliable-speeds
8. http://thebasource.com/aircraft/b777-200er/g-ymmr/
9. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/ba81#28036e18
Media:
During June and July 2021, several aircraft suffered from abnormal pitot system events, two of which resulted in rejected takeoffs. The blockage was found to be caused by nesting insects. Read the report: https://t.co/h4CVYY3p9u pic.twitter.com/zjMwLXJMbF
— AAIB (@aaibgovuk) January 27, 2022
REPORT Eight planes aborted takeoff at Heathrow due to bee nests blocking pitot probes https://t.co/j9dNdZYuIe
— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) February 6, 2022
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Jun-2021 12:12 | harro | Added |
| 27-Jun-2021 12:16 | harro | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Jun-2021 12:17 | harro | Updated [Category] |
| 27-Jun-2021 20:47 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Jun-2021 21:02 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 27-Jan-2022 21:37 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 27-Jan-2022 21:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Embed code, Narrative] |
| 06-Feb-2022 20:55 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Embed code] |
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