Boeing recommended against using its 777 planes after engine failure

Boeing confirmed on Monday that all of its 777 models with engines similar to those on the plane involved in the incident in Colorado were grounded around the world, with a ban on flying in UK airspace.

A United Airlines flight that took off from Denver, Hawaii on Saturday with 231 passengers and 10 crew on board quickly returned to the airport after part of the engine caught fire.

The plane was able to land at the Denver airport and none of its occupants were injured, but residents of suburban Broomfield found large pieces of the plane strewn around their neighborhood., including a giant circular piece of metal that landed in a neighbor’s yard.

Sunday evening, the American aviation company had “recommended” the suspension of flights of this type of plane and Monday a spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that 128,777 planes equipped with the same Pratt & Whitney engine were immobilized.

United Airlines, the two major Japanese companies, ANA and JAL, and South Korean Asiana Airlines, they had already announced between Sunday and Monday the immobilization of their device of this type.

Egyptian State Daily Al Ahram reported Monday that the national airline Egyptair had left its four 777s with Pratt & Whitney engines on the ground.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Sunday ordered additional inspections on some Boeing 777 jets.

FAA Chief Steve Dickson said a preliminary review of safety data revealed the need for additional checks on the jet engine fan blades, unique to the 777.

US Bureau of Transportation and Safety (NTSB) is investigating the incident and noted that a preliminary assessment revealed that two fan blades broke on the second motor.

“The plane sustained minor damage,” the NTSB said in a statement on Sunday. “The examination and documentation of the aircraft is ongoing.”

Pratt & Whitney said he was cooperating with the NTSB investigation and “will continue to work to ensure the safe operation of the fleet”.

The expert from the AIR design office, Michel Merluzeau, specifies that it is necessary to determine whether it is a metallurgical, maintenance, manufacturing or operating fault, which will take time.

UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps on Monday announced a temporary flight ban for the series in UK airspace.

Japan’s Transport Ministry said it ordered more stringent inspections after a JAL 777 plane flying from Tokyo to Naha on Okinawa Island had problems with “a related engine” in December .

The South Korean Ministry of Transport, for its part, He said on Monday that he did not intend to land planes on the ground at the moment, but was monitoring the situation.

But Asiana Airlines, the second largest company in South Korea, has already made the decision not to use the seven Boeing 777s it has.

As for Korean Air, the country’s main airline, which initially told AFP it had grounded its six Boeing 777s equipped with PW4000 engines, said it was awaiting official instructions from South Korean regulators. .

As, the Netherlands also launched an investigation and Luisa Hubregtse of the Dutch Safety Board, the organization responsible for investigating air incidents, he told AFP that “at this stage, it is too early to draw any conclusions”.

The American aircraft manufacturer had serious problems in 2019 with another of its models, the 737 MAX. The plane had to cease to be used in March of the same year after two accidents which left 346 dead, the Lion Air in Indonesia in October 2018 (189 dead) and the Ethiopian Airlines, in March 2019, in Ethiopia ( 157 dead).

After more than 20 months, and after the modification of the flight control program and the implementation of new protocols in the training of pilots, the resumption of flights of the aircraft was authorized., from December 2020.

The covid-19 pandemic and its disastrous consequences on international air transport have led to the cancellation of orders for hundreds of planes for Boeing and its European competitor Airbus.

The 777, in service for 25 years “has a solid reputation”But this incident reminds us that these fleets are aging, Merluzeau said.

With information from AFP

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