Emerald Airways

Avro 748

Immediately after take-off from London (Stansted) Airport, on a night flight with 30 passengers and 4 crew on board, an uncontained failure of the right engine occurred. This resulted in sudden power loss and a major engine bay fire. The commander elected to land back on the runway. The aircraft overran the paved surface, and uneven ground in the overrun area caused the nose landing gear to collapse. After the aircraft had come to rest, with the engine bay fire continuing, the crew organized a rapid evacuation and all the occupants escaped, with little or no injury. The engine bay fire was extinguished by the Airport Fire Service (AFS), but fuel release continued for some hours.