What happened
A positioning flight operated by ONA, traveling from New York to Jeddah with stops in Frankfurt, was performing its takeoff roll at John F. Kennedy International Airport. While the aircraft was accelerating on runway 13R and had surpassed 100 knots but not yet reached V1, a large group of birds emerged from the runway area. The Boeing 747 (implied by engine configuration/context) struck numerous birds, prompting the pilot to initiate an aborted takeoff.
The impact caused significant damage to the fan blades of the number 3 engine, resulting in a rotor imbalance. This imbalance led to the fan-booster stage blades rubbing against the epoxy micro balloon shroud material. The resulting pulverized debris entered the high-pressure compressor area, where it ignited and caused the compressor case to separate. This triggered a fire within the right wing and the number 3 engine pylon.
During the high-speed abort, the aircraft was unable to stop within the runway limits. The pilot steered the plane onto taxiway Z at approximately 40 knots. During this maneuver, the main landing gear collapsed, and the aircraft eventually stopped against the shoulder of the taxiway. There were no fatalities and no injuries reported, an outcome partially credited to the fact that the occupants were trained crew members.
Findings
The primary cause of the engine disintegration and subsequent fire was the ingestion of a large number of seagulls into the number 3 engine. The aircraft's ability to decelerate was severely compromised by several simultaneous failures: the loss of the number 3 hydraulic system, which reduced braking torque by 50%, the inoperability of the number 3 engine thrust reversers, the failure of the number 3 spoiler panels to deploy, and the disintegration of at least three tires. Additionally, a wet runway surface contributed to the difficulty in stopping.
Contributing factors included an ineffective bird-control program at the airport and a certification oversight by the FAA and General Electric regarding how rotor imbalance affects abradable epoxy shroud material.