Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told MSNBC that he will work with the NTSB to investigate the engine failure to "understand any lessons learned in a way that will maximize the sense of safety every time we get on a plane." I was unaware of his expertise in the area of Turbine Engine design and failure modes. Who knew? Cheers
Looks like Fan blades might be the culprit. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/22/uni...orders-inspections-pratt-whitney-engines.html Cheers
And UA has grounded their 777s with the engines and Japan has banned such planes from their airspace as I understand it. Apparently there are a limited number of 777s with the Pratts.
The report I posted is not exactly favorable to Pratt. After the Max debacle, the FAA is being very, very proactive...
A statement from Steve Dickson, the FAA administrator. Sounds like an emergency AD has been issued already.
“Stepped up” sounds just like the 737 thing. We knew there was a problem but we were letting everyone deal with it slowly until an engine blew up, then we “stepped up” and all the whining companies who said inspections would ruin their lives, all managed to do all of the inspections in two weeks... Funny how that repeats.
After Saturday’s engine failure, Boeing says many 777s should be grounded https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...ds-grounding-777s-with-pratt-whitney-engines/ "While the NTSB investigation is ongoing, we recommended suspending operations of the 69 in-service and 59 in-storage 777s powered by Pratt & Whitney 4000-112 engines until the FAA identifies the appropriate inspection protocol."
I've noticed that headlines often overstate the content of an article. I went back and added an excerpt to clarify.
Well, since actual safety is expensive, while promoting a sense of safety means you get free airtime with the news outlets, I'm thinking the priority for Pete is promoting the sense of safety. Also, the airlines do a pretty decent job on the actual safety side of things.
United Airlines Grounds Dozens of Planes Following Engine Failure Incident https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/faa-investigating-downed-united-flight-engine-fire United Airlines has grounded 24 planes following this past weekend's incident where a plane's engine blew apart after takeoff on Saturday. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have also launched investigations into Flight UA328, a Boeing 777, that was heading from Denver to Honolulu. The flight returned safely to Denver and was met by emergency crews. "Based on the initial information, we concluded that the inspection interval should be stepped up for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes," FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement on Sunday, adding the agency issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive.
Please don't misunderstand. I do believe that the airline transportation system is pretty darn safe. (In retrospect, I do see how my posts in this thread could be misconstrued)
Actually, I added the 'pretty decent job' sentence so that my earlier 'actual safety is expensive' statement wasn't thought to mean I believed corners were being cut. So I was worried about me being misconstrued.
Well, technically 24 aircraft does meet the definition of "dozens" lol. Makes it sound a bit more sensational than saying two dozen.
Well they also “grounded” at least that many more that were in storage. Can you ground an airplane that was already grounded?
And since I work for the company that builds the engines that are not P&W, I'm all for it! But seriously, it's just a coincidence that two engines RUD'd a few days apart; I hold my breath and check the airplane to make sure it doesn't have GE or CFM or GHAE or EA engines.
Same day. (Almost) same engine. B747 out of Maastricht. https://airwaysmag.com/airlines/longtail-boeing-747-engine-failure/
Maybe three failures, one back in December: https://simpleflying.com/jal-boeing-777-engine-cover/ Also, towards the bottom of this article: https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/united-777s-grounded-faa-preparing-ad-japan-bans-777-flights/
It will very interesting to hear the service history of these engines. The PW4000-112 has been around since 1995.
Nice picture. But am I missing something about how this tells us about the service history of these engines?
Looks like NPR is a little more accurate with their headline-writing (although I'm not sure that it "blew" apart). Boeing recommends grounding 777s with type of engine that blew apart https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation...ding-777s-with-type-of-engine-that-blew-apart
Images similar to these have already been posted but at lower resolution. https://simpleflying.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/50970654253_d4b390c0e5_k.jpg https://simpleflying.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/50971339066_d01945a9d2_k.jpg https://simpleflying.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/50970664463_26658fff2f_k.jpg
Investigators release preliminary findings on the United Airlines flight engine failure. Here's what we know https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/23/us/boeing-aircraft-engine-fail-tuesday/index.html
Well, at least they have plenty of other airplane to bring online. Will be a busy time to be a 121 mechanic.
