A Boeing 777-200ER, operated by American Airlines, was forced to perform an overweight landing in Phoenix on Friday. The London-bound aircraft suffered an engine failure on takeoff, prompting its return less than an hour after departure.

The pilots alerted air traffic control (ATC) that they were “unable to restart” the plane’s left engine and had 11 hours of fuel remaining onboard. They subsequently decided against dumping fuel before landing, resulting in the widebody using nearly the entire runway on its return.

American Airlines Engine Failure Forces “Mayday” Call

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AA194 is American’s daily long-haul flight from its hub at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR). N759AN – a nearly 25-year-old airframe – was operating the flight on Friday, according to flight tracking data from Flightradar24. The plane pushed back from gate B13 at approximately 4:35 PM, five minutes after its scheduled pushback time of 4:30 PM. It then proceeded to taxi to Runway 25R on the south side of the airfield.

Less than 15 minutes later, N759AN had begun its takeoff roll. Data shows it became airborne at approximately 4:49 PM and assumed the normal westbound departure path from PHX. By 4:52 PM, the aircraft was climbing through 6,000 (1,829 meters) feet and had turned north. The timing of the engine failure is unclear, but ATC recordings obtained by ThePlaneSpotter captured when the pilots declared an emergency.

“American 194, we’re gonna declare mayday, mayday, mayday. We have an engine failure. We’re unable to restart it.”

No Fuel Dump With Over 280 Passengers Onboard

The crew then said they would be “heading back to Phoenix,” and leveled the aircraft off at around 7,200 feet (2,195 meters), data shows. Just six minutes after departure, the plane was north of PHX and heading east before it made a sharp turn to the north over Loop 101 in north Scottsdale. Shortly after, the aircraft turned back west and maintained its heading as it traveled just south of Lake Pleasant.

The pilots confirmed to ATC that the aircraft’s left Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engine, which is known as engine #1, had suffered the failure. While rerouting back to PHX, the crew informed ATC that dumping fuel would not be necessary, despite a total of 283 passengers onboard.

ATC: “Are you gonna do any fuel dump? You just burning fuel?”

Pilot: “No, we’re not gonna dump any fuel.”

ATC: “Okay.”

While remaining at 7,200 feet, the aircraft flew southwest before positioning itself over Luke Air Force Base (LUF) to head back east. At approximately 5:14 PM, data shows the plane gradually descended to 6,200 feet (1,890 meters) as it crossed over the city of Glendale. It maintained the altitude for a few minutes before descending further and turning south to line up for its approach. At around 5:20 PM, it was on its final approach. The plane touched down safely on Runway 26 about three minutes later at 5:23 PM.

With nearly all of its fuel onboard, N759AN landed significantly heavier and nearly used the entire runway to slow down. Runway 8/26 is PHX’s longest runway, extending about 11,490 feet. It is primarily used to accommodate arriving flights from the north or heavy aircraft, though departures are occasional.

First responders appeared to have been dispatched prior to the aircraft’s arrival as a precaution, according to video footage from the tarmac. N759AN exited the runway but had to remain on the taxiway to cool down as the overweight landing resulted in “extremely hot” brakes and landing gear, according to ThePlaneSpotter. It subsequently taxied safely back to Terminal 4.

Fuel Dumping Can Lead To Expensive Consequences

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N759AN remains on the ground at PHX and will likely be out of service for a few days to weeks for repairs. Flight data shows that AA194 has been delayed until Saturday at 2:00 PM. It is unknown whether American organized accommodations for the affected passengers or rebooked them on other flights. Simple Flying contacted the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier for comment late Friday, but representatives could not be immediately reached.

It is unclear why the crew decided not to dump fuel. However, fuel jettison comes with risks and has landed other airlines in hot water. Late last year, Delta Air Lines agreed to pay nearly $80 million to settle a lawsuit stemming from an incident that occurred in January 2020.

The carrier’s former 777-200LR suffered a compressor stall from its #2 engine after takeoff from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The lawsuit alleged that over 50 people suffered from skin and lung irritation after the crew operating the Shanghai-bound aircraft decided to dump fuel over a populated area amid its return to LAX. The final approval hearing for the settlement is scheduled for Monday.