Flight Was Carrying More Than 500 Passengers And Crew From Paris To Los Angeles

An Air France A380 suffered an uncontained engine failure Sunday several hours into a flight from Paris to Los Angeles, CA. The plane made a successful emergency landing in Goose Bay, Canada.

The French news site thelocal.fr reports that the plane had 496 passengers and 24 crew on board. Video posted to multiple social media sites show extensive damage to the outboard starboard engine of the aircraft. Passengers reported hearing a loud bang followed by violent shaking of the aircraft.  The failure tore the front cowling and fan disc from the No. 4 engine.

An Air France Spokesman told the French news service AFP that all 520 people were evacuated without incident. Air France dispatched to aircraft to Goose Bay military airport so that the passengers could continue their flight to Los Angeles. Goose Bay is designated as an emergency landing site for transatlantic flights.

The French aviation investigation authority BEA has dispatched a team to Canada to begin looking into the incident. Representatives from Airbus and Connecticut-based Engine Alliance are also traveling to Goose Bay.

NBC news reports that the A380-800 involved is seven years old.

(Image from YouTube video posted by user HeathrowspotterUK)

FMI: www.bea.aero