Posted on 03/10/2021 10:47:35 AM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
Happened twice? Holy smokes.
These days, engine makers put a layer of Kevlar in the cowling, to catch debris from a failure
Yes, no doubt.
Evidently thermal acoustic testing isn’t the answer.
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I don’t know enough about the TAI inspection method to comment and I haven’t even figured out some basics such as whether it can be done in situ or if it’s only a method that can be used if the entire fan is shipped back to the factory and all the blades stripped off the hub. At the outset, I’m highly skeptical that it can do much inspection of any type down at the root of the blade due to it being inaccessible there. And where did the blade break on United 328?
Want a real confidence booster?...... yes I know it’s just Wikipedia but take a look at this page. Sheeesh..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_acoustic_imaging
I think that what has gone on with these fan blades has shaken a lot of people’s confidence in flying to the core.
Ouch. That’s going to be a black eye for P&W - guilty until they can prove themselves innocent. I guess the saving grace for them would be if inspections of other engines do not turn up unexpected issues. Without more similar issues it starts to look like an isolated problem. Of course that’s not entirely good news either. Someone would have to figure out what it was that happened to this particular engine that caused the premature failure - so that it can be avoided.
Generally when there are “serious issues” in aviation it is a result of multiple events. We’ve been at this long enough to have culled out most of the obvious stuff. Now what bites us is when multiple things happen in just the right (wrong) sequence. It may turn out to be a manufacturing tolerance that is just a bit too loose, a blade at the limit, a merely cursory inspection, some significant in flight event previously... Stack them up together and you get the flight crew having an opportunity to show off their skills and training in a real world incident.
“I worked for GE Aircraft Engines for fifteen years (manufacturing) and you would not believe the amount of “pencil whipping” that went on.”
The Lynn plant?
Part of Lynn; a small off-shoot in the town of Hooksett NH.
Had an uncle who worked at the Lynn plant.
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