USA A United plane loses part of an engine during a flight and scatters a multitude of pieces of the fuselage around Denver before landing successfully
Boeing
has recommended that airlines suspend the use of the
777 planes
with the same type of engine that disintegrated over Denver (
USA
) over the weekend, after US regulators announced additional inspections and
Japan
suspended their use. while considering new measures.
The use of the
Pratt & Whitney PW4000
engines came
after a
United Airlines
777 made an
emergency landing in Denver on Saturday after its right engine failed.
United announced on Sunday that it will voluntarily and temporarily retire its 24 active aircraft, hours before Boeing's announcement.
Boeing has specified that 69 of these aircraft are in service and 59 in storage, at a time when airlines are keeping their aircraft grounded due to a drop in demand associated with the
coronavirus
pandemic
.
The manufacturer has recommended that airlines suspend operations until US regulators identify the appropriate inspection protocol.
The
affected
777-200
and
777-300
are older and less fuel efficient than the newer models and have been phased out by most operators from their fleets.
Images released by police in
Broomfield
,
Colorado
, show significant aircraft debris in the town, including the engine cover of the 26-year-old plane strewn in a home garden.
The
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
says its initial examination of the plane has indicated that most of the damage was limited to the right engine, and that the damage to the plane was minor.
The intake and housing were separated from the motor and two fan blades were broken, while the rest of the fan blades showed damage.
Japan prohibits its use
The
Ministry of Transport of Japan
, meanwhile, has ordered airlines
JAL
and
ANA Holdings
stop using PW4000 engine 777 while considering whether to
take further action.
The Ministry has argued that on December 4, 2020, a JAL flight from Naha Airport to Tokyo returned to Naha due to a left engine malfunction.
Japan's Transportation Safety Board reported on December 28 that it had found damage to two of the left engine fan blades.
The investigation continues.
United is the only US operator to use this type of aircraft, according to the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
.
The other airlines that use them are in
Japan
and
South Korea
.
"We are reviewing all available safety data," the FAA said in a statement.
"Based on the initial information, we have concluded that the inspection interval for the hollow fan blades, unique to this engine model that is used only in Boeing 777 aircraft, should be increased."
An official from
the South Korean
Ministry of Transportation
has claimed that they were awaiting formal action from the FAA before giving a directive to their airlines.
The US agency will issue an emergency airworthiness directive.
Korean Air Lines
has 16 aircraft of this model, 10 of them in storage.
In February 2018, a 777 of the same age operated by United and bound for Honolulu suffered an engine failure when a deck fell about 30 minutes before the plane landed.
The NTSB determined that the incident was the result of a fan blade fracturing its entire length.
Because of that 2018 incident,
Pratt & Whitney
reviewed inspection records for all previously inspected PW4000 fan blades, the NTSB said.
The FAA in March 2019 issued a directive requiring initial and periodic inspections of fan blades on
PW4000 engines
.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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