Category: Engine

Another 787 aircraft incident with Rolls-Royce engines

Rolls Royce still have no idea why their Trent 1000 engines that power the 787 aircraft are failing!

SCOOT DREAMLINER SUFFERS ENGINE FAILURE ON APPROACH TO PERTH

Scoot engine failure Perth
A Scoot Boeing 787.

Australian safety investigators are probing another Boeing 787 engine failure, this time on a Scoot flight coming into the West Australian capital of Perth.

The aircraft, registered 9V-OJE, was descending into Perth Airport on October 11 when the right engine suffered an uncommanded shutdown.

The flight crew continued the approach and the aircraft landed safely about 7:20 pm local time.

“As part of the investigation, the ATSB will interview relevant persons, obtain engineering reports and review operational procedures,’’ an Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman said.

“A report will be released at the conclusion of the investigation.

“However, should a safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify those affected and seek safety action to address the issue.”

Scoot confirmed flight TR16 encountered a “technical issue”  in its right engine prior to landing in Perth and said passengers were told of the situation over the aircraft’s public address system.

 “For customers of the return flight TR17 bound for Singapore, hotel accommodation was provided for them as necessary,” it said. “Where possible, arrangements were also made to fly customers out on partner airline flights to minimize inconvenience.

“Safety is of utmost importance to Scoot and we will spare no effort to ensure the safety and well-being of our customers. Scoot apologizes for the inconvenience caused.”

The airline did not reveal the nature of the engine problem but Scoot’s Dreamliners are powered by the Trent 1000 engine that has caused problems for airlines globally and is set to cost manufacturer Rolls-Royce £1 billion.

Premature corrosion and fatigue cracking of intermediate compressor blades in some versions of the engine have led to flight cancellations and aircraft groundings

Airlines have faced increased inspections, range restrictions and delays in getting engines repaired. Some, including Air New Zealand,  have had to lease aircraft to replace out-of-service 787s.

The problems in about 380 engines known as “package C” have caused several engine failures and numerous unscheduled engine removals after inspections have found cracked blades.

READ: Trent troubles to cost Rolls-Royce £1 billion

The European Aviation Safety Agency and Rolls earlier this year reduced the number of cycles between required inspections to address the premature wear.

The US Federal Aviation Administration followed by reducing the maximum flying time affected 787s are allowed to be away from a suitable emergency airport — known as ETOPS — from 330 minutes to 140 minutes.

Rolls-Royce is redesigning the compressor blades but said last month that some blades were wearing out faster than expected and this could “cause additional short-term disruption” affecting 30 to 40 engines.

It has also launched a “precautionary” redesign of the intermediate pressure turbines for older package B Trent 1000 engines and newer TEN engines.

Reported by Airline Ratings on 12 October 2018.

Travel Risk: Engine Metal Fatigue

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) that requires operators to inspect fan blades on certain CFM56-7B engines within 20 days.

The directive is based on a CFM International Service Bulletin issued today and on information gathered from the investigation of Tuesday’s Southwest Airlines engine failure. The inspection requirement applies to CFM56-7B engines.

Specifically, engines with more than 30,000 total cycles from new must complete inspections within 20 days.  The EAD becomes effective upon publication. The engine manufacturer estimates today’s corrective action affects 352 engines in the U.S. and 681 engines worldwide.

The engine fan blades are used on Boeing 737-600, 700, 800 and 900 jets.

The USA National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) believes one of the blades snapped on the Southwest flight 1380 on Tuesday 17 April 2018, flying at about 30,000 feet, hurling debris that broke a window.  The incident killed one passenger who was sucked part way out of the plane and injured seven others. The plane, a Boeing 737 bound from New York to Dallas with 149 people aboard, made an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

NTSB investigators said one of the engine’s fan blades broke off from the hub during the flight. The broken edge of the blade showed crack lines consistent with metal fatigue.

NTSB QUESTION: Why didn’t the ring do its job?

NTSB investigators are taking the Southwest engine apart to understand what happened and will look at maintenance records for the engine. There’s a ring around the engine that’s meant to contain the engine pieces when this happens, and in this case it didn’t, which is the big focal point for the NTSB.

Engine failures occur from time to time as engines are being pushed to produce as much power as possible, many expert believe engines are right on the edge, and consequently sometimes engines fail, and that’s why the containment ring is there.

The engine failure was reminiscent of a similar event on a Southwest Boeing 737-700 jet in August 2016 as it flew from New Orleans to Orlando, Florida. Shrapnel from the engine left a 5-by-16-inch hole just above the wing. Passenger oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling. Pilots landed the plane safely in Pensacola, Florida.

Reported by the USA Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

 

Air France A380 Makes Emergency Landing After Engine Blows Apart

  • French aviation agency, Airbus investigate ‘serious incident’
  • Arrangements made to get 497 passengers to Los Angeles
An Air France A380Photographer: Manuel Velasquez/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

An Airbus SE A380 superjumbo operated by Air France was forced to make an emergency landing in eastern Canada after one of its four engine broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean.

The aircraft was flying from Paris to Los Angeles when the “serious incident” occurred, prompting the pilots to land in Goose Bay, Labrador, the airline said Sunday in a statement. No one on Air France Flight 66 was hurt and arrangements have been made to get the 497 passengers to California, the airline said. Airbus and France’s BEA air-accident investigation bureau dispatched a team of experts to Canada to investigate the aircraft, they said.

While engine malfunctions aren’t uncommon, so-called uncontained failures, when the protective outer part of the power plant known as the cowling rips apart, are. Such explosions are more serious because it can cause catastrophic damage to the wing holding fuel or the hydrolics that control the flaps. The Air France plane’s jet turbines are made by Engine Alliance, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Pratt & Whitney Corp. The Alliance said on Twitter that it is aware of the Saturday incident and looking into it.

 

Photos posted by passengers online showed the outer of the two engines under the right wing with extensive damage, and the entire frontal ring of the cowling missing. Pratt & Whitney is owned by United Technologies Corp. and the manufacturer also equips the Airbus A320neo with upgraded engines, while GE and partner Safran SA offer a rival product.

The incident is the most severe since Qantas Airways Ltd. in 2010 grounded all six of its A380 aircraft after an inflight explosion on one of the plane’s engines. Those power plants were made by Rolls-Royce Group Plc, whose Trent 900 model is the other engine of choice on the A380. The Qantas jet was out of service for 18 months for repairs and retestesting.

The A380 is among the increasingly rare breed of airliners powered by four engines. The other two aircraft still in use are the Boeing 747, as well as the A340, which is no longer produced. Airlines now favor two-engine models because they are more fuel efficient, and twin-turbine aircraft have become more reliable even after a malfunction of one engine. Aircraft like the Airbus A350 are certified to fly for several hours on just one engine to reach the next airport for emergency landings.

After a decade in service Airbus has slowed output of the A380, the world’s biggest passenger aircraft, to just one plane a month. Air France operates 10 of the aircraft. The biggest user of the double decker is Emirates, which uses mainly Engine Alliance turbines for the plane, but has switched lately to the Rolls-Royce model.

Reported on 1 October 2017 by Bloomberg.

Jet blast from a plane kills a tourist at St. Maarten airport

Jet blast from a plane kills a tourist at a Caribbean airport

A sign near St. Maarten's Princess Juliana International Airport warns people about the danger from airplane jet engines.

A sign near St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport warns people about the danger from airplane jet engines.

A tourist from New Zealand was killed by the blast of a plane at an airport in the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Maarten.

The 57-year-old woman, who was not identified, was hanging onto a fence to watch the plane leave Wednesday, the island’s police said on Facebook.
The jet’s blast was so powerful, it knocked her down, police said. She later died.
Watching planes land and take off at Princess Juliana International Airport is a well-known tourist attraction, as approaching aircraft tend to fly very low above their heads.
But both airport and local authorities warn against getting too close to the planes, calling the practice “extremely dangerous.”
Police didn’t say what kind of plane was involved in Wednesday’s incident.
Island authorities say they have taken necessary precautions to warn tourists not to get too close to planes. They’ve placed signs and they patrol the area to warn people, the police department said.
Thrill-seekers and tourists have been watching planes take off and land at the airport since it opened in 1943.
In 2012, a woman was injured after she was flung into a nearby concrete barrier by a jet blast.
Reported by CNN on 14 July 2017.
It is worth highlighting a suggestion posted on Facebook by Paul Trueschler In know it’s a tourist attraction, but please install a small deflector to at least reduce the blast effects. It can still be exciting while becoming safer.
Hope the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Maarten Airport Authorities instal a small deflector, to reduce the risk of injury and death of future visitors.   

Rolls Royce engine problem grounds Thai Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliners

Trent turbine troubles ground Thai 787s

Thai Airways International has grounded part of its Boeing 787-8 fleet owing to turbine replacement issues with the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine.

Image result for thai airways 787

The carrier says it is working with Rolls-Royce on the issue, which it expects to be sorted out by September.

“Due to the shortage of Boeing 787 Dreamliner engine spare parts, it is necessary that some aircraft of this type must be parked and temporarily cannot be operated, which is a problem that affects Thai and other airlines worldwide whose 787 aircraft are equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines that have turbine blade problems,” says Thai’s acting president, Usanee Sangsingkoo, in a statement.

She adds: “As this problem may affect flight safety, Thai has removed these engines from its aircraft and sent them for repair at the Rolls-Royce technical maintenance center in Singapore earlier this year.”

The Star Alliance carrier has also conducted negotiations with R-R to obtain compensation expenses accruing from the issue.

When contacted by FlightGlobal, R-R said it is working to resolve Trent 1000 issues.

“This is the continuation of work which started last year to upgrade Trent 1000 engines to the latest standard,” says R-R.

“We have a clear service management plan in place with all operators to undertake this work and minimise disruption. The current disruption that we are causing to the Thai fleet is clearly of great concern to us. The Thai and Rolls-Royce teams are working together to minimise this impact and restore full flight operations as soon as possible.”

In September 2016, R-R said it would replace turbine blades in the intermediate-pressure turbine of the global Trent 1000 fleet. The engine-maker said that the existing design was “failing to meet its expected lifespan”, and that it would roll out a global fix.

Media reports from Thailand say that four of Thai’s six 787-8s are grounded. One story shows the image of a parked 787-8 with an empty engine cowling.

Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that the average age of Thai’s 787s is 2.6 years. Thai also has two 787-9s on order, which are to be delivered in September and December.

Sangsingkeo adds that it is using other types on 787-8 routes to ensure passenger service is not affected. FlightMaps Analytics shows that Thai’s 787s operate short and middle-haul routes. Key destinations include Brisbane, Perth, Delhi, Beijing, and Phuket.

Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that there are 213 in-service 787s globally that are powered with Trent 1000s. Of these, 101 are with operators in the Asia-Pacific.

Globally, major users of Trent 1000 powered 787s include All NipponAirways with 59 aircraft, British Airways (24), and LATAM (23).

Reported on 6 July 2017 by FlightGlobal.