FAA Orders New Inspections of Boeing 777 Jets With Pratt & Whitney Engines
February 23 2021 - 11:08PM
Dow Jones News
By Alison Sider
Pratt & Whitney engines on Boeing Co. 777 jets will need to
be inspected before those planes can fly again, according to a
Tuesday emergency order issued by the Federal Aviation
Administration.
A Pratt & Whitney engine on a wide-body 777 United Airlines
Holdings Inc. aircraft broke apart during a flight over the weekend
near Denver, spraying the residential area below with debris and
forcing the flight to return to the airport. Nobody was
injured.
Airlines around the world that operate planes with this engine
type have already grounded affected jets. United, the only affected
U.S. carrier, has voluntarily taken its 24 Boeing 777 airplanes
with Pratt & Whitney engines out of service--a move that it
said would affect its cargo shipments next month as it prepares to
swap out parked planes to carry passengers.
United has additional impacted jets that were parked in storage
and the carrier said Tuesday that it will comply with the FAA's
order to ensure that all the aircraft in its fleet meet its
rigorous safety standards.
On Monday, U.S. safety investigators said they found evidence of
"damage consistent with metal fatigue" on one of the engine's fan
blades that had been largely ripped off. That loose blade
apparently then sheared off part of a second blade that was also
fractured, according to Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National
Transportation Safety Board.
The FAA's order, described as an interim measure, means it will
be some time before planes with these engines can fly again. Boeing
recommended airlines ground them and regulators in Japan ordered
airlines there to stop flying them. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines
have grounded all 777 jets with Pratt & Whitney powered
engines.
Typically, authorities in other countries issue orders based on
the directive by the country that certified the aircraft or part,
in this case, the U.S.
The FAA said it would review the results of thermal acoustic
image inspections that can detect cracks on the interior surfaces
of the fan blades that can't otherwise be seen. Those results will
determine how frequently such inspections will have to be performed
going forward.
The incident over the weekend follows two similar engine
failures involving the same type of engine on the same type of
aircraft in recent years.
The FAA had previously mandated that this engine's fan blades be
inspected at regular intervals after a similar incident on a United
flight in 2018.
The FAA had already been considering whether to order increased
inspections of the Pratt & Whitney engines after another
similar failure on a Japan Airlines Co. flight in December. Japan's
Transport Safety Board said a fan blade that had weakened over time
broke off. Japan Airlines said it would inspect and replace those
blades at more frequent intervals than what was called for
previously in the FAA inspection regime.
In a statement, Pratt & Whitney said the engines will be
shipped to one of its facilities for inspection to conform with the
FAA action, which it said affected around 125 Boeing 777s. Boeing
said in a statement that it supports the FAA's guidance on
inspection requirements.
Doug Cameron and Eun-Young Jeong contributed to this
article.
Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 23, 2021 22:53 ET (03:53 GMT)
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