FAA Mandates Engine-Icing Fixes That Could Affect Up to 150 Boeing 787 Jets -- Update
April 22 2016 - 11:47AM
Dow Jones News
By Andy Pasztor
General Electric Co. engines powering as many as 150 Boeing Co.
787 jets world-wide are susceptible to sudden in-flight shutdowns
due to internal ice accumulation, prompting U.S. regulators to
order swift fixes to eliminate the danger.
A Federal Aviation Administration safety directive released this
week indicates that certain upgraded models of General Electric's
most advanced engine pose an unacceptable safety risk because
internal ice buildup -- detected in one recent incident at an
unexpectedly low altitude -- could result in both engines of a 787
shutting down simultaneously. According to the agency, the
possibility that engines couldn't be restarted "is an urgent safety
issue."
There haven't been any accidents stemming from the problem, but
red flags were raised when one engine on a Boeing 787 shut down on
its own and couldn't be restarted while flying at roughly 20,000
feet. The other engine on the plane, flown by an unidentified
airline, was an older design and continued to operate, according to
the FAA.
The problem cropped up after many years of intense efforts by
General Electric and other engine makers to prevent different types
of shutdowns stemming from internal icing while cruising at much
higher altitudes. General Electric previously revised the design of
some of its engines to cope with those safety challenges.
Boeing and General Electric have been working on the latest
issue for months, and the engine maker has issued voluntary service
bulletins spelling out maintenance efforts and fixes that it
estimates already have alleviated low-altitude icing hazards on
some three dozen Boeing 787s.
But the FAA's move requires special notices to go out to pilots
within a week, alerting them about revised operating procedures to
cope with potential low-altitude icing problems. Within five
months, carriers must fix or replace at least one of the suspect
engines on all affected 787 Dreamliners, according to the agency
document released Thursday.
The FAA determined that mandating a faster compliance deadline
could unduly disrupt operations of more than 150 airlines, and
potentially even cause airplanes to be grounded. A General Electric
spokesman said the company was working with customers to avoid
schedule disruptions. The fixes are expected to be done during
normally scheduled maintenance, without having to remove engines.
But the FAA has left open the door to possible further fixes.
The directive, slated to become effective in two weeks without
pubic comment, covers 43 planes operated by U.S. carriers. But it
is eventually expected to be followed by regulators around the
globe.
Highlighting the extent of potential hazards, the FAA ordered
cockpit crews to brief specific ice-removal procedures before the
first flight of the day for all affected 787 Dreamliners. And when
flying through certain ice-prone conditions above 12,500 feet, the
directive requires pilots to briefly rev up each of the engines
every few minutes to avoid excessive ice accumulation.
In March, following the single engine shutdown event, the FAA
issued a similar directive but that affected only a handful of
planes.
The General Electric spokesman emphasized that this week's
directive isn't related to earlier engine-icing issues affecting
Boeing 787s as well as the largest Boeing 747 models powered by the
same family of engines. In late 2013, the FAA issued a directive
requiring pilots flying such jets to skirt certain types of
high-altitude storms by 50 nautical miles to avoid potentially
dangerous ice crystals that could reduce thrust, cause internal
damage or momentarily shut down engines.
Around the same time, Japan Airlines Co. opted to temporarily
remove GE-powered 787 aircraft from certain routes that are prone
to formation of high-altitude ice crystals.
General Electric eventually developed and distributed a software
fix that resolved those safety issues.
Still earlier, a separate spate of hazards posed by internal
accumulation of ice crystals, typically found in relatively
high-altitude storms, dogged General Electric and other engine
makers from the mid-1990s through the end of 2011. During that
period, federal and industry experts investigated incidents
involving more than 100 big jets around the world, including at
least 14 instances of dual-engine shutdowns, or "flameouts."
Starting in 2007, the industry successfully rolled out various
modifications to counter that generation of hazards. The latest
engine safety challenges, however, surprised some of the same
experts because they are prone to occur at much lower altitudes,
and stem from what is believed to be a different sequence of events
inside engines.
Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 22, 2016 11:32 ET (15:32 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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