What happened
While performing the takeoff roll at Sana'a International Airport, the crew of the aircraft experienced a sudden loud noise and significant vibrations once the speed reached 95 knots. In response to these symptoms, the captain executed an aborted takeoff by initiating emergency braking procedures. During this sequence, the right wing of the aircraft caught fire as the plane came to a stop on the runway.
All 124 occupants were successfully evacuated from the aircraft. While there were no fatalities, two passengers sustained minor injuries during the incident. The aircraft sustained damage so extensive that it was declared a total loss.
Findings
Investigations determined that the primary cause of the event was an uncontained explosion within the first-stage high-pressure turbine disk of the right engine. This failure originated from a low-cycle fatigue crack located on one of the disk rim embossments.
Crucially, this pre-existing crack had gone undetected during previous maintenance inspections performed at the operator's facilities, despite following manufacturer-defined methods and airworthiness authority requirements. The investigation concluded that existing inspection intervals and methods were insufficient to reliably detect such cracks, highlighting a need for redesigned components and more rigorous, sequential inspection protocols.