Icing Cause Of British Air Close Call

Icing determined to be cause of British Air Crash in January.

After a long flight over the arctic, a British Airways PLC jetliner crash-landed close to London's Heathrow Airport. Investigators and safety experts do not believe ice built up inside the engines. But many safety investigaors speculate that unusually frigid outside temperatures during the flight helped cause the formation of ice, slush or some kind of contaminant to build up in the Boeing 777's fuel system.  This  starved both Rolls-Royce engines of fuel. With minimal power on final approach, the plane slammed down 300 yards short of the runway. All 152 people on board survived.

Rolls-Royce PLC won't comment on the crash investigation.

British Airways Flight 38 from Beijing makes an emergency landing at London's Heathrow Airport Thursday, January 17. The 777-200ER, registration G-YMMM, was built by Boeing in 2001. One of 43 in the British Airways fleet. Jet is powered by two Rolls-Royce Group Plc Trent 895 engines and had accumulated 23,476 flying hours as of December 2006. 

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