Catastrophic Engine Failure After Takeoff. Southwest Boeing 737 MAX. REAL ATC
Vložit
- čas přidán 26. 12. 2023
- December 20, 2023.
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 , registration N8830Q, performing flight SWA554 from New Orleans International Airport (KMSY) to Tampa International Airport (KTPA). Shortly after takeoff declared an emergency and reported their intentions to return back to New Orleans. Later the flight crew reported loss of the number 1 engine due to bird strike. While Southwest 554 was climbing out, another aircraft reported that there was a smoke coming out of their engine. After landing the airplane stopped on the runway for inspection and reported catastrophic engine failure.
Main playlists:
EMERGENCY - • EMERGENCY
REAL ATC - • REAL ATC
CRASHES - • Crashes
If you enjoyed please support channel by subscribing and hitting the notification bell to get notified on new uploads.
Source of communications: www.liveatc.net (usage permission)
#REALATC #AIRTRAFFICCONTROLL #AVIATION - Auta a dopravní prostředky
In defense of the crew, "Communicate" is dead last on the list of pilot priorities.
Aviate, navigate, communicate.
The monitoring pilot is doing the radio
@@douglasb5046 he's also assisting in assessing the aircraft condition. AVIATE. NAVIGATE. COMMUNICATE. in THAT order.
@@douglasb5046you sure about that?
@@moffmyster8915 well, that’s the way it’s supposed to work for part 121 operations.
Love the way the ATC handled this, cool as a cucumber and not pushy regarding souls and Fuel. Gave the pilots what they needed as stayed the 'F' out of their way- perfect job.
I agree, him saying ‘when able, if able’ around souls and fuel, made it clear the pilot didn’t have to reply if the focus was still on aviate, navigate. I also thought his comments after a question or observation’ take all the time you need made it clear he was there to support and not demand.
He did handle it well, but was insistant on the base call (leaving the airspace would have been a better reason to insist upon, are you turning base wasn't needed)... which either wasn't called or has been removed from the recording. Pilot states they were running checks, unless there has been a major deviation in expected course, ATC should have waited for South West's response i believe.
@@borntobbad I'm not a qualified pilot but have experience pre-solo with gliders (had to stop on moving from UK to US) so I'm not sure I follow your point, I'll need to bo back and rewatch the video.
@raysutton2310 i am no longer licensed, but have been around aviation nearly all my life and I follow safety advice wherever possible.
I'm not sure which part you are having problems with, but i will just add this.
In the grand scheme of things, taking off is optional, landing is mandatory. Ultimately it's the pilots responsibility and ATC to guide and keep you compliant with area specific requirements such as different class airspace...they also are responsible for separation, although visual separation rests solely on the PIC and or crew if more than 1 pilot.
Repeating radio calls during an emergency situation can become less helpful and more of an interference, although whilst they are running checks, ATC was trying to avoid them leaving the airspace, so i understood his insistence, but adding that to the call may have been more helpful, rather than repeating the "are you turning base"
@raysutton2310 the most dangerous question is the one you were afraid to ask.
EVERY TIME a pilot declares an emergency, the controller has the exact same response: “Uhhh… say again?” Just human nature, I guess. Glad everyone’s okay!
Isn't that why they should start with MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY so the controller has full attention?
Um...how so?
Pilot "We're declaring an emergency" Controller "Ummmm, are you joking?"
YES! Wtf?
@@NochEinKamel Correct. The phrasing is standardized for a reason, and it's not just for posterity. It gets the controllers' attention and everyone on frequency knows without a doubt that they should minimize communications.
Did not hear any unnecessary radio traffic. Crew answered ATC questions and communicated pertinent information.Landed safely is what counts.
Why do American pilots never seem to use the phrase "MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY" ?
because it is not needed, "declaring an emergency" is perfectly fine
@@slappymcgillicuddy7532 Really? Almost every time they say that the next words out of the controller's mouth are "say again?"
@@slappymcgillicuddy7532Still, the pilot should have used mayday or pan phraseology, to be more attentive towards the controller
@@slappymcgillicuddy7532 "Mayday" tells the controller that the aircraft needs immediate attention and that something critical is wrong. "Pan-pan" tells the controller that something is unusual, and extra care is needed. "Declaring an emergency" is not in the list of defined phrases, and doesn't differentiate between levels of emergency.
A controller who speaks English as a second language may have difficulty understanding non-standard phrases, but will instantly understand "Mayday" or "Pan-pan".
Stating the phrase 3 times is also not an accident. It gets the attention, and compensates for poor radio reception. A single burst of static during the word "emergency" while the pilots are saying "declaring an emergency" makes the entire radio call ambiguous.
TL,DR: Standard phrases exist for a reason.
@@slappymcgillicuddy7532I'm a 737 captain. They should always declare a mayday mayday mayday in an assertive manner. It tells everyone on the radio to shut up and gets he controllers attention. The controller knows right away it's an emergency until the crew downgrades it.
Make sure pilots to get that Mayday x3 in so there’s no confusion when you need to declare an emergency.
What is it with the "emergency aircraft"? I thought the designated call-outs were Pan Pan or Mayday x 3. Gosh, maybe ATC wouldn't have to ask "Say again?" every time.
No not anymore. Come on...keep up.
Yeah, because EMERGENCY is a tough one to get the meaning of.
@@brandspro It may be understood in the US, however pilots are trained to use the standardized ICAO terms stateside so if and when transitioning to international flight their usage is ingrained.
@@wintercameYeah and they’re in the US, what the hell are you on about?
@@wintercame Oh OK...but emergency works just as well in EuroBrit land.
they sound sooooooo panicked. Losing an engine is NOT a routine thing.
Did the flight crew put on their oxygen masks? Clearly a difference in tone after about a minute. Strange if they did because there’s clearly no hypoxia chance. Maybe smoke in cockpit?
Likely smoke or smell of smoke in cockpit; you don't play with that. Air-con relies on one of the engines(different by aircraft) very possible they were getting smoke from an engine explosion.
Yes. Apparently it was the left engine that failed, and I think the 737 takes the bleed air for the cockpit from that side. (The right side is used for the cabin.) And even if it wasn't an immediate problem with the air, it might be part of the checklist (or memory items) for the situation, just to be on the safe side.
Im curious why in this day and age that there are still no fuselage mounted cameras around the airplane that would allow pilots to see the engines, flaps, tail, etc from the cockpit almost like a side view mirror in an automobile. Also a belly mounted camera to view the landing gear.
Cost vs. frequency of use or need for use. Airlines would view these cameras/screen(s) as just another expense, both in purchase price and maintenance. Boeing kind of had it right with the taxi cameras on the 777 lol but yeah, sad as it is to say, it comes down to money. Airlines are overly obsessed with cutting every expense possible. But I totally agree with you. It’s ridiculous.
I’ve said that all along
No different to the sleeves for the Pito tubes ?
Why there isn’t some sort of warning that they’ve been left on (besides when they’re having mixed readings on take off)
Insurance … no one wants to be caught red handed
Drag, weight and cost.
Pilots and crew….you guys are amazing. God Bless you
Negative. Dude gave less info than sully for a single engine shutdown. I want my pilots to be a lot more composed than that. Maybe he needs more time in the sim to prepare for an event like that
These are really riveting
What I always find remarkable is how well people understand those wireless communications. Sure, sometimes they ask "come again?" but I'd be doing that all the time. This sounds so well managed and I'm glad everyone made it back safely.
eh, just a matter of experience and time. you'd be up to speed pretty quickly i bet.
The wired communications were much clearer....except the sky was filled with tangled cords.
I’ve seen people comment that the recordings aren’t as clear as what you’d hear if you were actually there using a radio. I don’t think it’s anything specific to ATC - there’s a million reasons why a recording of *anything* will probably not be as high quality as it could be.
The pilots are wearing oxygen masks that’s why they sound muffled
@@skoto8219I thought the same, the recordings usually use stations set up by enthusiasts. I don't think this is an official recording
SWA554: Check out our engine, see any issues?
Rescue: Yep, it's busted
Mayday, mayday, mayday, [aircraft callsign] returning to field.
When did this stop being used?
In USA, a long long time ago. In Europe, used like all the time (unless of course american pilots...)
@@Xanthopteryx FAA emergency procedures section 3 distress and urgency procedures. The initial communication, and if considered necessary, any subsequent transmissions by an aircraft in DISTRESS should begin with the signal MAYDAY, preferably repeated three times. The signal PAN-PAN should be used in the same manner for urgency.
From their own fucking website.
Any US pilot who doesn't follow these guidlines should be permanently banned from piloting after being convicted of attempted mass homicide through procedural neglect.
These fucking regulations are written in blood.
@@alphamaccao5224 I know. And i too can not understand why they do not follow procedures!
Arm chair aviation experts. Love it. And even you true aviation experts truly love to nit pick and over criticize anything.
We just had an engine fire on the airport campus (KICT)... same solid ARFF response. The pilots, crew, ATC, and emergency services managed both incidents well, and all of the passengers on both this and the aircraft that had to divert will have missed connections, but they all get the benefit of being able to tell the story about the time their plane's engine caught fire. That is what matters. Everyone's intact.
how so?
@@RLTtizME United 551, Dec 14, 2023, diverted to Wichita, KS (KICT) due to engine fire. Outcome was the same in both incidents, both involved a 737 variant (551 was a 737 NG), both were handled well and no casualties save the engine and cowling.
@@kdawson020279 How so?
Anyone else remember the Avanca flight? The keep saying that their fuel was low. They never declared an emergency or that they had a mayday. They just ran out of fuel.
Yeah.. Funny how that totally does not relate to this incident at all 🤔 Does anyone remember that one time, when that car had a flat tire on the highway? 🤷♀
This pilot is clearly hammered out of his mind lol
Those guys are all so cool headed. My radio transmissions would sound like "Aaaaaaaaahhhh!!""
Some are bashing the pilots each pilot handles it differently depending on on the telemetry he received when this happen can change the the severity of panic.
Lots of comments by people who’d obviously never had an emergency in an airplane-and many who are obviously not pilots. My take: well handled, both by the SW pilots and ATC.
Shocked at some of the comments here about the comms. Both pilot and ATC did astoundingly well. Unless you were actually there or have experienced basically the same emergency you don't know what actually goes on. I can't even imagine how terrifying it must be to handle an aircraft emergency as either ATC or pilot. Especially when flying over a populated area. No matter how much training you do, an actual emergency is intense as hell and not something you're dealing with continuously (hopefully). Very easy for people to criticise but they clearly did a fantastic job. I personally would be relieved if I was flying on this plane knowing how well both pilot and ATC did.
Felt like this situation was handled pretty well. Was the pilot monitoring a little flustered? Yes but rightfully so. And the pilot flying did a great job running the check lists and not letting anyone rush him.
Pilot flying would be doing the radios in an emergency, Pilot monitoring would be running the checklists.
@@cjmillsnundepends on the airline.
Definitely the first time he's experienced something like this.
And he did a damn good job of it. 👌
The pilots sounded like they were panicking. Wonder if it was another cowling blow-out
A pilot sounds as one of the most stressed compared to others on this channel.
Yea. Having to breathe through the oxygen masks will do that to you.
@@allgrainbrewer10 lol what? Thousands of military pilots do just fine wearing oxygen masks and not being hysterical. Lots of other ATC traffic from emergencies where the pilots are masked up and totally calm.
@@cruisinguy6024Hysterical? I don't know what recording you listened to, but I certainly didn't hear any hysterics.
You are projecting .
@cruisinguy6024 Commercial Pilots don't wear oxygen masks unless there is an emergency, this is an unfamiliar situation and they were justly startled for a very short period before being completely fine.
In video after video with declarations of emergency ATC doesn't hear the initial distress call.
Okay...and?
To be fair with communications flying between dozens if planes its easy to miss. Especially when the pilots are only stating “emergency aircraft” halfway through their sentence (which i dont blame em for,) its not very attention drawing.
If only there was some sort of internationally approved way of clearly and unambiguously declaring an emergency...
That's because they don't use Mayday or Pan-Pan, or that part of the transmission isn't recorded.
A copule of things. First, you are hearing an isolated conversation and not the actual full radio broadcasts going on. Second, there are expected call and responses at certain times, and it takes a second for the human being to understand someone is off script.
Aviate
Navigate
Communicate
The pilots have two job priorities before communication with ATC. Probably not easy to fly an airliner on one engine.
The pilot also flew clear of populated areas.
The only lost one engine? What''s the big emergency?
Sounds like he’s ready to retire. Don’t blame him.
I speak English at a high level, yet often I can't understand a single thing being said over the radio - it's simply too fast and blurred together. I would be sent home the first day of ATC training because every pilot would be repeating themselves two or three times.
Where is FAA?
Non-pilot here, so kindly excuse the question if it's obvious. It's been my understanding that losing one engine is not an emergency, and that the aircraft can fly just fine on one engine. Is that accurate? I get it that they'd def want to return ASAP, but was this a real emergency where people were actually in peril? The pilot never called "mayday" which is why I'm asking.
While aircraft with more than one engine usually will be able to stay airborne once at cruising speeds and altitudes, the power demand during take off is much higher than it is while just keeping the plane airborne. This is due to a number of reasons, one of which the drag on the plane is usually very high while taking off.
Imagin a grenade going off. Thats what a catastrophic engine failure is like! When that happens, it can damage all kinds of vital components. Structural damage to the wing might not show up right away. There have been many instances where 10,20 minutes later after an engine has failed, that all hell breaks loose, and the plane becomes Much harder to fly or worse.
Do air traffic controllers do simulator training too?
Yes.
Yes. In fact I was a 'pilot' in an ATC sim.
Airforceproud95
Southwest has a thing for catastrophic engine failures.
WN1380 flashbacks
2:22 was that just the mask making it sound like the pilot was panicking?
The crews first responsibility is to fly the airplane. I can guarantee the last thing on their mind (aviate navigate THEN communicate) was advising ATC while they were trying to secure an engine. Its asses and elbows up there when something like this happens.
Can someone please explain to me why it takes so long to return to the airport ? I mean that could have been catastrophic, over much crowded aeras.
I understand that there are check-lists to be run but if you had a bird strike and lost your engine, what check-lists or more info do you need ? I have seen the same recently with the MAX and its 20 minutes check-lists... Thank you very much, i am not a pilot nor related to that industry.
Stuff like dumping fuel so it's safe for them to land, regular landing procedures, engine flame-out procedures, etc... they were presumably maintaining level flight & okay with keeping a holding pattern for a little while (as planes are designed to do! See the Gimli Glider story for what a huge plane is capable of with 0 engines). If they were actively losing control of flight systems I expect another checklist would tell them to prioritize getting on the ground. 😄
Sounds like a routine flight on SWA.
Take all the time you need. Let me know when you're ready to turn.
Are you ready to turn yet? Take all the time you need.
Are you ready to turn yet? Or do you need more time.
Why does southwest have catastrophic engine failures all the time? Its southwest over and over again all the time.
Your leaving bravo airspace. I think airspace boundaries are the last thing in his mind! hahahaa
Well, he'd be under the direction/advisement of a different controller, so there's that.
Controller may not be able to keep others away out of the Bravo. Leaving the protection of the Bravo.
*You're
What ever happened to saying Mayday Mayday Mayday?
Emergency word is used a lot in the US. Emergency means either mayday or pan pan
US pilots believe it sounds a bit panicky. „Declaring emergency” sounds way cooler in their mind. A split second static during saying „emergency” may lead to ATC not knowing what they’re dealing with though.
That's the most rattled I've heard a pilot be in an emergency to date. Not exactly a "we'll be in the Hudson" moment.
ATC too much talk you cleared him you land aint thst enough.
The gaps between the talking are sped up, so there isn't as much (/as frequent) talking as it seems in the edited audio
Someone else did this video.
Some people need to get off their high horse in these comment sections...
Tha mayday kind.
@@John-nc4bl and the attack controllers for saying "say again"... Seriously everyone needs to grow up
How hard is to say mayday mayday mayday
When you’ve lost an engine and you are on fire, isn’t landing asap more important than jerking around with these company checklists?
No, those checklists exist for a reason. For example, one of the things that crew was doing as part of their Descent checklist was calculating their stopping margin. We do that for every landing, but in this case the engine failure checklist would have lead them to the single engine landing checklist. Which would have driven a Flaps 15 landing. Which would have driven a higher Vref/VTarget than a Flaps 30 or Flaps 40 landing with both engines running. They ran the calculations for RWY11 at KMSY and came up with a positive stopping margin at Flaps15 and whatever VTarget they were using. If they hadn't gotten that positive stopping margin, they literally could not have attempted a landing on that runway. Now let's say they hadn't departed a sea level airport with a long runway. What if they had departed KBUR or KMDW with a much shorter runway, or even KMSY but RWY11 was closed for construction, and only RWY 20 was available. It's 3000' shorter than RWY 11. When they run the stopping margin calculations and determine they had a negative stopping margin at F15, that would lead to a decision to NOT attempt a landing there.If they hadn't run their checklists, what VTarget would you tell them to fly? What flap setting would you tell them to use? What AutoBrake setting would you recommend? Those are all determined within the checklists. What are the current winds? What are the current Runway Condition Codes? Those are all factors in the calculations and checklists. In addition to there being countless required items to work through in an abnormal or emergency situation, you also need to factor in the stress those conditions cause. In the industry, we call those "Additive Conditions" From a human factors perspective, additive conditions can lead to unforced errors. In other words, the checklists are there to make sure the crews don't miss any critical steps while in the heat of battle. I know the media loves to portray John Wayne and Maverick and all the "Ice water in their veins hero pilots" as not caring what the book says and just using their hero pilot suer powers to pull off the impossible. But fortunately, that's not the reality of we fly modern transport category airplanes. Because if we don't have hard data proving it's not only safe, but possible, we don't ever attempt to "pull it off" The checklists assure us that we've done everything we need to have that data. That checklist discipline is a big part of why modern airline flying is as safe as it is. Even when you eat a seagull on takeoff.
student pilot?
As soon as the cabin door closes, they know how many souls are on board. I'm sure fuel is noted somewhere in the flight plan. Why do they bother the pilots for this information when they have their hands full? Ridiculous.
How would airport fire rescue have this information?
Fuel gets burnt
Without that information the fire engines don’t know how much water to bring with them
They wouldn't. Think a little harder.
This may sound dumb, but couldn't an airport KNOW how many people are on each plane? Everything's in a computer somewhere. I know minor, but ATC always sounds hesitant to ask.
Airlines have cancelation, or maybe there is another crew hitching a ride, etc. Not until they begin to taxi do they know how many souls are officially on board.
On several occasions the crew failed to follow instructions from ATC and had to be asked where they were going. Yes the crew were busy, but ATC have to manage other aircraft as well. No Mayday call !
The consistent failure rates Caused by " Over Engineering " is Staggering! Planes Cars Phones , Even Cookies ! Let's stop & look for Practical Common Sense.
They hit a bird, the engineering had nothing to do with this incident.
The panic they had…
Must be a Boeing thing!😅
Since when did Boeing make engines?
Since 1943@@opaldix, but they ceased production by the end of the 60's.
they could get the info from the ground staff and not bother the crew
Yeah...that would work. LOL.
It's standard protocol to get the souls and fuel from the captain. The manifest the the "ground staff" has may not be accurate, and it certainly wouldn't account for fuel burn, particularly when the emergency occurs later in a flight.
So why was this interesting? Did I miss something?
Anytime an engine Grenades like happen here. there is high chance that other systems are damaged. Even structural damage to the wing.
I think a bit flustered there. It was just a bird strike. It happens occasionally...
You try losing an engine close to the ground with 168 lives you're responsible for and see how flustered you get.
@@gweggorz Not my point. I'm sure pilots get stressed. My point is this guy sounded like he was on a verge of panic. On a 737 an engine exploded, and the woman pilot flew from Pittsburg to Philly on one engine sounding like it was a walk in the park.
‘We need everthing you’ve got’ - the most American dramatic waste of valuable transmission time and brain power
Catastrophic engine failure, smoke coming from the engine, but we need to run some checklists. How about just get the bird on the ground? Also, they could have not just taken a taxiway and stopped there? Was it really that important to stop on the runway and inconvenience everyone else?
Yes it's that important. Smoke coming from the engine could be fire, if they need to evacuate then stopping on the runway is quicker than stopping on a taxiway. Every second counts.
everything they do is run by checklists . they need to know what is still working on the plane, and they need to do it whilst trying to keep a damaged plane with 183 people on it safe . thats a lot of pressure , on two people in a short amount of time . they need to know is the fire just in the engine ,has the engine failure damaged anything else , are controls all working , can i turn both directions or just one , can we climb and descend , are we losing fuel , is the fire getting worse . all of that takes time . as for the rolling onto the taxiway , the runway would have been closed anyway and required inspection to make sure there were no pieces of the plane dropped on it and stopping the fastest way allows the ground emergency aircraft to get to the plane fastest to ascertain the need for evacuation or not . the captain could have just evacuated everyone on the runway , but again it their judgement call . hope some of that helps answer your questions
The checklist is very important. even more in a stress situation. You do not need to be a pilot to know that. checklists save lifes. Being a cowboy and "just put the bird on the ground" is what costs lifes. Real life is not a movie or your ignorant fantasy.
I am sure you know more than a trained aircrew
I always wonder why that quality is so terrible ... it´s 2023 ... There should be equipment doing better audio quality than this.
Or pilots should stop eating their headsets ...
The mantra of controllers, "say again", are they F-in deaf? " We are running a few checklists, no need to get on the ground we would rather explode first."
Why "souls" on board? What about the people who are inside of them?
Because sometimes planes have corpses in the hold. They are still a person, even though their soul has departed.
Yet again unnecessary radio traffic because US pilots refuse to properly communicate maydays. Crew really failed here especially with the “we need everything you have”nonsense instead of, again, just simply communicating the situation up front so ATC doesn’t have to nickle and dime them for information.
Least professional mayday call I've seen in a while but I get hectic situation. "We need everything you have" big eye roll. Sounds like a captain that got the promotion to the left seat too early.
Thanks couch captain, always good to have your worthless opinion.
Calling for everything I felt was a great call. It's better to have to too many resources show up than not enough...PLUS they were still diagnosing the situation.
@@jaredkelly930 it definitely was not a great call. For one, that’s just not how things work. Two, it shows a lack of control of the situation and emotions. Three, the accepted standard of practice is to notify the controller the nature of the emergency so the appropriate response can be made.
Whenever a plane is coming in with a situation it’s classified based on a number of factors that lead to what’s called the “alert level.” It’s not appropriate to “send everything you got” for a plane still fully capable of making a safe landing because doing so would shut down the entire airfield and potentially cause a ripple through the entire country from delayed flights.
This was an Alert-2 but pilot was tripping like it was an Alert-3 (aircraft has crashed). Engine failure is something routinely trained for and the aircraft is fully capable of making a safe landing.
Did you hear the “Miracle on the Hudson” radio traffic? Sully lost both engines and knew he was going to crash and yet maintained his composure, meanwhile pilot in this video is tripping balls.
@@allgrainbrewer10 I’m a former firefighter that’s responded to aircraft incidents soooo yeah nice try
yet again americans have to be different and refuse to follow ICAO phraseology - not that hard to say MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY
Why is American ATC so awful? They seem not to have been trained in how to react in a Mayday, PAN PAN or a simple emergency. Too much uneeded talk.
yeah they are ALL like that, what an idiot lol
Awful? You people are ridiculous 😂
Well seeing how neither mayday nor pan pan were called DESPITE FAA regulations to the contrary, it makes sense why they are taking it relatively casual. PIlots in the US have become so fucking innept and stupid they can't even follow one of the absolute basic fucking tennants of flying.
its just a bird strike.... not a big deal
The bird might disagree with you on his 😂
@@mattgirgenti3595 So might Sully ...... The Hudson River, no big deal 😉
Similar sized bird strike into an automobile windshield/ windscreen would probably incapacitate the driver or at the very least block their vision.
pilots over revved engine and blew it up
why do they ask stupid questions about fuel and passengers, the number is the same as it was when it took off! and the the fuel is less than it was when it took off. pointless info and the crew have better things to think about.
Because neither the tower nor ATC are told before the plane takes off. They ask about passengers in the event of any rescue.
They ask about the passengers so fire-rescue can account for everybody in case they have an emergency evacuation on the runway. People can easily go missing in those situations. They ask about the fuel so ARFF can assess how much fuel might come pouring out of the tanks if any are pierced on landing or a fire breaks out. ARFF knows they have a potential fire bomb on their hands, they need to know just how big it could potentially be.
Souls on board is somewhat relevant but in a case like this fuel is not as they just took off so obviously have a large quantity and that’s all that matters really.
@@cruisinguy6024 fuel is for fire rescue so they know exactly what they are dealing with event of crash
@@slappymcgillicuddy7532 ARFF don’t need exact amount. At the core they need to know if it’s a little or a lot of fuel. In this case it was a lot. Absolutely nothing would have happened differently if they knew the exact amount of fuel.
Sounds like they had masks on....
That is the safety protocol, especially with an engine fire.
Sounds like they pooped in their pants.