Each aircraft had foreign object damage to engines. FOD may
have come from baggage compartment, other engine;s cowlings, or
aircraft debris. Three of the engines usually fall together, while
a fourth engine, engine number 3, the one closest to the cargo
door, falls alone, and may have fire damage on it.
"The external surfaces of the No. 3 engine inlet cowl
assembly exhibited foreign object damage including small tears,
scuffs and a large outwardly directed hole. The entire circumference
of all the acoustic (sound attenuator) panels installed on the
inlet section of the cowl had been punctured, torn, or dented."
"The leading edges of all fan blade airfoils on the No. 3
engine exhibited extensive foreign object damage."
"External damage to the No 4 engine inlet and core cowls
was confined to the inboard side of the inlet cowl assembly."
"The No. 4 engine fan blade airfoils had sustained both soft
and hard object damage from foreign objects."
NTSB/AAR 92/02 Page 7
NTSB/AAR 92/02 Page 8
"The fan cowls of the number 4 engine had a series of
five marks in a vertical line across the centre of the Air India
logo on the inboard facing side of the fan cowl., These marks
had the characteristic airfoil shape of a turbine blade tip."
Canadian Aviation Safety Board Air
India 23 June 1985, page 29
"One of the operating engines was displaced 0.5 miles to
the north of this area and it was also geographically separated
from the wing structure. The number three engine nacelle strut
was also separated from the rest of the engine components and
was located about one nautical mile to the west-southwest at lat
51 02.87'N, long12 48.05'W. The reasons for the displacement of
the number 3 engine nacelle strut and one of the operating engines
from the other engines are not known."
Canadian Aviation Safety Board Air
India 23 June 1985, page 32
"The No 3 engine had fallen 1,100 metres north of the
other three engines, striking the ground on its rear face, penetrating
a road surface and coming to rest without any further change of
orientation e.e. with the front face remaining uppermost. The
intake area contained a number of loose items originating from
within the cabin or baggage hold." "The interior of
the (No 2) air intake contained paint smears and other evidence
suggesting the passage of items of debris." "All 3 engines
had evidence of blade tip rubs on the fan cases having a combination
of circumference and depth greater than hitherto seen on any investigation
witnessed on Boeing 747 aircraft by the Pratt and Whitney specialists.
Subsequent examination of No 4 engine confirmed that it had a
similar deep large circumference tip rub."
UK AAIB Report 2/90 Page 29
UK AAIB Report 2/90 Page 30
"Airflow disruption such as that presumed to have caused
the shingling observed on No 2 engine fan blades was almost invariably
the result of damage to the fan blade aerofoils, resulting from
ingestion or blade failure."
UK AAIB Report 2/90 Page 30
"Until the fourth engine has been brought ashore and examined,
officials won't discuss their examination of the other engines,
Francis said. He refused to disclose why they are focusing on
the engine closest to the fuselage on the right wing." "The
engines on the right side of the plane both suffered more damage
than those on the left, but the recovery of all four diminished
the possibility that a heat-seeking missile caused the crash by
destroying an engine." " The right inboard engine was
relatively intact but suffered ``foreign object damage'' from
debris sucked in while it was apparently still running."
"Investigators completed a meticulous tear-down of the right
inboard engine of TWA Flight 800 yesterday and sent debris that
had been sucked into the apparently still running engine to FBI
and National Transportation Safety Board labs in Washington. "
News Reports from Associated Press,
Reuters, major newspapers, press releases from NTSB, FBI