The World - News from Feb. 3, 1988

A Continental Airlines jumbo jet carrying more than 400 passengers brushed treetops on takeoff from London after one of its four engines failed on the runway, witnesses were quoted as saying. “The aircraft is designed to perform a three-engine takeoff, which it did,” Richard Havers, a spokesman for the airline, said in response to the British Broadcasting Corp.’s disclosure of the incident. The BBC quoted witnesses as saying that the Boeing 747, bound Monday for Miami from London’s Gatwick Airport, barely managed to leave the ground at the point when the pilot could no longer abort takeoff. After dumping 125 tons of its fuel and restarting the engine, the plane returned safely, the report said.