FAA warns airlines-GE engine icing problems 787 and 747-8

[mikeSilom]

Not a particularly encouraging response from United. Especially since I'm flying a UA 787 tomorrow from LAX to Narita.

The full article is here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/27/usa-boeing-idUSL2N0JC0XX20131127


By Alwyn Scott

Nov 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. aviation regulator on Wednesday required U.S. airlines to inspect any General Electric Co engines on Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner and 747-8 aircraft that experience icing problems which could lead to loss of thrust and forced landings.

The Federal Aviation Administration's decision to issue an airworthiness directive had been expected. The agency also required airlines to prohibit pilots from flying into high-altitude, icy weather conditions.

The FAA said that in certain kinds of high-altitude thunderstorms, ice crystals entered and damaged the engines, causing temporary loss of thrust, or in some cases increased vibration with no loss of thrust. The problems affected nine flights, and in two cases involving 747-8 planes it affected two of four engines.

The FAA said its concern was that "unrecoverable thrust loss" on multiple engines "could lead to a forced landing."

Edited November 28, 2013 by metisdead
Edited per fair use policy

[Chicog]

Can't get a break with the Screamliner, can they?

[skippybangkok]

Screamliner

Lol

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[NeverSure]

Ummm... I think this is GE. It's 2013. You'd think they'd know how to build a jet engine by now? They had this problem about 15 years ago with another engine and fixed it. You'd think they would have addressed the issue with this engine before it went into service???

[craigt3365]

Only 9 flights were effected out of the thousands that have flown. And in that only 1 caused some engine vibrations? Much better odds than traveling to your local grocery store! 55555

[jimmybcool]

I love the term "forced landing".

[Bender]

due to this probleme, Japan Airlines switched from 787 to 777, on their flight to India and to Singapor;

ANA do use other engine... lucky them

Soon we will found on craiglist: B787 for sale, quite new, rarely used, just tend to overheat and to lose bodypart

[khaosai]

Hi,

Ice Crystal Icing (ICI) seems to be causing some issues. Some good information for crews was incorporated into the operating manuals a few years back on cues to look out for and how to avoid it.

Detection via weather radar is difficult due to poor reflectivity from ice. Most encounters have been in the tropics however it's not limited to those areas. The subject and understanding of ICI continues to evolve.

It's basically a large amount of small ice crystals accumulating in the engine core which can lead to vibration, power loss and engine damage.

If an encounter happens there is now a checklist to follow and that checklist covers both GE and RR.