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Boeing recommended temporarily stopping flights of planes with an engine similar to the one that suffered a catastrophic mid-flight failure over the weekend.
A United Airlines bound for Hawaii was forced to Emergency landing Saturday when his right engine was engulfed in flames and debris fell to the ground.
The 231 passengers and 10 crew members on board, as well as those on the ground, were unharmed.
The plane sent debris to the ground
The plane’s engine, a Pratt & Whitney PW4000, is used only in Boeing 777s.
Boeing has now said that operations of all 777s powered by Pratt & Whitney engines should be suspended until the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) finds an appropriate protocol for inspections.
Currently there are 69 aircraft of this type in service and 59 in storage.
The development represents a further blow for Boeing as its 737 MAX returns to the skies nearly two years after the fleet was grounded after two fatal accidents.
In the case of the 777, the FAA had previously directed that inspections of hollow fan blades unique to the engine model be “stepped up”.
At least three other incidents involving Pratt & Whitney engines have been recorded in recent memory.
• One of the four engines of a Boeing 747-412 cargo plane failed minutes after its departure from Maastricht in the Netherlands on Saturday.
• Three months ago, a flight between Okinawa and Tokyo was forced to reverse after an engine explosion six minutes after takeoff.
• Another Pratt & Whitney 4000 series engine failed when a blade broke on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Hawaii in 2018
A large piece of debris found in Denver. Photo: Broomfield Police
Photo: Broomfield Police
In each of the incidents, no one was injured.
Two of the engine fan blades on the Hawaii flight were fractured and the rest of them “exhibited damage,” according to a separate statement from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
However, he added that it was too early to draw conclusions about how the incident happened.
United Airlines, the only US airline to use the engine model in its fleet, is temporarily withdrawing the affected aircraft from service.
He said he will work closely with the FAA and the NTSB to “determine any additional steps that are necessary to ensure these aircraft meet our rigorous safety standards and are able to return to service.”
Japan has gone one step further and decided to stop operating a total of 32 aircraft with that engine, according to Nikkei Asia.
The country’s Ministry of Lands, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism also ordered the planes to be taken out of service.
