Danish officials have found parts from an Air France A380 engine that fell on the Greenland icecap on Sept. 30 following an uncontained failure. Investigators used information from the plane’s flight data recorder to narrow down the search area and a helicopter was sent to look for remnants of the main fan and front cowling, which separated from the engine on a flight from Paris to Los Angeles. The Air Greenland helicopter crew found debris in a “wasteland covered in ice” last Thursday and began picking up the pieces on Saturday.
They will be used as part of a complex investigation being led by France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis into the engine failure, which forced the A380 to divert to Happy Valley/Goose Bay Airport on the remote northeastern tip of Canada. The 521 passengers and crew on board made it to Los Angeles the next day on two aircraft. While the French government is leading the investigation, Danish and Canadian officials are also involved as are airline staff, Airbus representatives and people from Engine Alliance, the manufacturer of the engine.
