A Thai Airways Boeing 777 suffered an uncontained engine failure in the early hours of yesterday morning. The aircraft was not airborne at the time, and as such abandoned its takeoff attempt.A Thai Airways flight to Zurich was hit by a 12-hour delay yesterday. The reason for the delay was an uncontained engine failure during takeoff. Thankfully, the aircraft was able to slow down enough on the runway to return to the terminal, albeit on the other side. According to photos shared on social media, a huge hole was visible in the side of the engine.

TG970 To Zurich

TG970 is a daily scheduled flight from Thailand's capital city Bangkok to Zurich in Switzerland. The flight is operated by a Boeing 777 aircraft every day. The flight is due to depart from Thailand at 01:05, before landing in Zurich at 07:50. The typical flight time is around eleven hours to eleven and a half hours.

On Sunday, the aircraft departed from the gate at around 01:10 in the morning, according to FlightRadar24.com, so roughly on time. Following a short taxi, the aircraft lined up on runway 01L. It was due to take off roughly to the north. However, according to the Aviation Herald, as the aircraft was powering up to take off, there was a problem.

Before the pilots reached their decision point, the aircraft's left-hand engine failed. As a result, the pilots made the decision to abort the takeoff and return to the terminal. This was a good call as, upon inspection at the terminal, a gaping hole was discovered in the side of the aircraft's left-hand engine.

The aircraft affected

The aircraft affected by engine failure was HS-TKL. According to AirFleets, the aircraft is 7.1 years old. The Boeing 777 took its first flight on the 24th of September 2012 and was delivered to Thai on the 30th of October 2012. With the line number 1049, the aircraft is equipped with two GE90 engines from General Electric.

12-hour delay to Zurich

The passengers onboard TG970 eventually reached Zurich with a delay of 12 hours. It has been reported that they were initially taken to local hotels as a replacement aircraft was not readily available. Eventually, HS-TKK replaced HS-TKL.

The aircraft operated under the flight number TG970D as opposed to TG970. According to data from FlightRadar24.com, it departed from Thailand at 13:08, landing in Switzerland at 19:08 in the evening. No injuries appear to have been reported as a result of the engine failure during takeoff.

Were you onboard TG970 to Zurich? What do you make of the extensive engine damage? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!