U.S. blames American Airlines fire on engine failure

WASHINGTON/SEATTLE (Reuters) - A fire on an American Airlines passenger plane as it was taking off from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport last week was sparked when the right engine broke apart, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Friday. The investigative update shed new light on a rare "uncontained" engine failure, in which pieces escaped the engine housing, that has been the talk of aviation circles since the incident on Oct. 28. The engine failure caused a fuel leak that resulted in a fire under the right wing.