What happened
On August 21, 2014, at approximately 1540 UTC, an Air India Airbus A320-231, registration VT-ESI, experienced an uncontained failure of its number two engine during takeoff from Cochin Airport (OCK) in Kerala, India. The aircraft was operating a scheduled flight from OCK to Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in Delhi.
Following the failure, the crew received a fire warning for the number two engine and declared an emergency. The flight crew successfully returned the aircraft to Cochin Airport, where it landed without further incident. There were no injuries and no fatalities associated with the event.
The investigation
A visual inspection of the number two engine, which is an International Aero Engines V2500-A1 turbofan, revealed damage to the fourth-stage blades of the low-pressure turbine. Additionally, metal debris was found within the engine exhaust. The inspection also noted that the thrust reverser cowls showed impact damage, which was consistent with an uncontained engine failure.