United 777 plane flew fewer than half the flights allowed between checks: sources

[turbinetree]

Source: Reuters

AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE
FEBRUARY 24, 20211 1:11 PMUPDATED 11 MINUTES AGO




By Reuters Staff 1 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A United Airlines plane with a Pratt & Whitney engine that failed on Saturday had flown fewer than half the flights allowed by U.S. regulators between fan blade inspections, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The Boeing Co 777 plane had flown nearly 3,000 cycles, equivalent to one take-off and landing, which compares to the checks every 6,500 cycles mandated after a separate United engine incident in 2018, said the sources.

They sought anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly.

Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; writing by Jamie Freed





Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-777-unitedairlines/united-777-plane-flew-fewer-than-half-the-flights-allowed-between-checks-sources-idUSKBN2AP0B7?il=0

[brush]

1. Damn. Boeing used to be standard all other airline builders were compared with.

Now with the 737 years-long fiasco and now this 777 mess, Boeing will be lucky to stay in business.

[PSPS]

2. This is more of an Pratt/Whitney engine problem, not a Boeing design blunder like the MAX.

[George II]

5. Yes, that was an engine failure, not an airframe failure. Apparently there was a flaw....

....in the fan blade that wasn't even due for inspection yet.

This is a big problem for P&W.

[burrowowl]

3. Not really, but it used to be better than now.

[Calista241]

9. This is a Pratt & Whitney problem. Boeing is blameless in this case.

In fact, the Boeing wing and airframe survived an engine explosion and returned to the ground with no casualties. Boeing sells the airframes to their customers without engines, and the customer specifies what engines are to be installed during construction.

The plane involved in the incident was over 26 years old, and there's a fair chance this engine was not the engine that it shipped with 26 years ago. Only 128 of over 1600 777's build by Boeing used this engine.

[tiptonic]

4. Everything

Everything is 'farmed out' now, including the FAA. Its the vendors fault. The FAA has been 'privatized', like everything else. They are in bed with the Corp.

[kimbutgar]

6. I told my husband that those planes that sat months degraded on the tarmac

I was not too far off.

[EX500rider]

7. Unlikely as they usually fly them to desert areas for storage.

Much less wear and tear parked then constant take off & landings.

[lapfog_1]

8. someone "expert in the industry" identified a shift from solid

fan blades to hollow ones (to save weight I would imagine) and hairline stress fractures are starting on the inside of the blade. also indicated that this was now common across all manufacturers