B777 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Inflight Shutdown; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Declared Emergency
Human Factors; Aircraft
I was pilot flying; hand flying through FL280 when I noticed an EICAS message regarding the Left Generator. Instantly; we felt the airplane shudder slightly; and then I saw the left engine failure EICAS message. TAC [Thrust Asymmetry Compensation] worked instantly and smoothly; as I felt no yawing tendency. The airplane was easily controllable throughout this brief time. The Captain and I acknowledged the engine failure; and he declared Mayday with ATC. He requested a turn towards the field; and he got started on the engine out checklist. Coincidentally; we were dispatched with the APU INOP; so we had no electrical or pneumatic backup for anything. As we would be landing very soon; we sent a brief message to Dispatch over ACARS and made a quick radio call to Airport Operations. When offered our choice of runways; we chose XXR; and asked to have emergency vehicles standing by. We quickly briefed the purser of the problem but; because we were so busy; it fell upon her to make the announcement to our passengers about our return to the field. We were below max landing weight; so there was no need to dump fuel. There was an indication of N1 turning; but N2 was zero. At this point; the autopilot was on; I was still Pilot Flying and had taken over the radio communication with ATC. The Captain continued working the checklists. We decided to start with the severe damage checklist; because N2 was reading zero. We did attempt to restart; but that was unsuccessful. The weather was VFR and we were vectored towards the final approach course. We agreed to transfer control before intercepting at the IAF. After the Captain took control of the airplane I reviewed checklists; speeds/notes and spoke with the purser and passengers. The landing was uneventful and; upon reassurance from the Tower that everything looked normal; we taxied to the gate.
My First Officer did an outstanding job; as did ATC. My recent annual training proved very helpful in handling this event and I felt comfortable throughout. The spike in workload was significant and ECL [Electronic Check List] issues posed an added challenge.
A B-777 flight crew suffered the failure of the left engine climbing through FL280; followed appropriate checklists; declared an emergency and returned uneventfully to their departure airport. The APU; MEL'd inoperative; and the loss of its associated pneumatic and electrical redundancy contributed to the urgency of a timely response.