American Airlines plane engine flings debris in rare failure

London

AN American Airlines jet engine that failed seconds before takeoff in a fiery runway accident at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport flung broken turbine parts as far as some 800 metres from the scene, a federal investigator said on Saturday.

Disclosure of the "uncontained failure", in which internal engine parts breach the protective housing designed to keep them safely enclosed, even in a breakdown, came a day after a mishap that the authorities said neared the point of disaster but caused no serious injuries.