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| Boeing 787 - Dreamliner |
Discovery follows a review of all Boeing 787 and 747 engines by the National Transportation Safety Board
Engine's forward end of fan midshaft found fractured similar to one that sparked a fire off a runway in South Carolina in July
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A second cracked engine in a Boeing
Dreamliner has been found just two months after a similar plane's engine
cracked and failed during a test run that sparked a fire off its runway
in South Carolina.
Adding
further federal scrutiny to the jetliner, an investigation by the
National Transportation Safety Board uncovered the latest cracks after a
recommended review of all Boeing 787 and 747 engines by the Federal
Aviation Administration earlier this month.
After
the forward end of a fan midshaft (FMS) fractured and separated in a
General Electric GEnx-1B turbofan engine on July 28 in Charleston,
examination of other models revealed the second engine's crack.
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| Advisory: A U.S. worker inspects a Boeing 747-8's engine earlier this year, one part of a federally advised review this month for cracks in the Dreamliners' engines |
That GEnx jet engine, while installed on a 787-8 airplane, had not been flown yet, according to a release by the NTSB on Thursday.
In
an urgent letter to the FAA earlier this month by the NTSB requesting
the engines' inspection, the safety board worried of similar engine
explosions that spewed hot metal onto the runway of Charleston
International Airport creating a small brush fire.
The Boeing 787-8 was undergoing a
low-speed taxi test during that incident, according to the NTSB with no
passengers aboard or injuries reported.
The news comes just days after a similar Boeing 747-8F with a GEnx-1B turbofan lost power during takeoff in Shanghai, China.
The
safety board said on Thursday that their investigation with the Civil
Aviation Administration of China into the design and manufacture of the
engine and aircraft is ongoing.
 |
| Cautionary: After a General Electric GEnx-1B turbofan engine cracked and
failed during a test run in South Carolina in July the inspection of all other engines used by the jet went underway |
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| Warm welcome: A Dreamliner Boeing 787 taxis between celebrating arcs of
water in Ethiopia last August marking the county's airline as the third to accept delivery of a new Dreamliner |
Currently there have been no indications of cracking in that jet engine with its FMS found intact.
All of the GEnx engines are manufactured at a GE facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, CNN reports, with GE being the largest maker of jet engines.
While
the Dreamliner is currently only operating by carriers outside the
U.S., United Airlines plans to be the first U.S. domestic carrier of the
Boeing jets come November.
Earlier
this month on September 8 India received their first Dreamliner at the
Indira Gandhi International Airport in fanfare celebration making their
first of 27 ordered by Air India.
The national carrier's 787s will be powered by the General Electric GEnx-1B engines.
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| Expanding: On September 8 Air India received their first of 27 ordered
Dreamliners that will be powered by the General Electric GEnx-1B engines, pictured |
'We have done the checks on all our GE
engines,' Jack Jones, Boeing vice president and general manager, said
earlier this month at an international trade conference near Charleston,
South Carolina.
'GE
has done a great job of figuring out quickly what we have to do to
ensure the integrity of the engine. We know that and we've implemented
it.'
Jones said the
engine issue had not affected Boeing's schedule of delivering planes.
'It obviously didn't stop deliveries. That is absolutely critical,' he
said.
Playing catch up
after a long and rocky start, the American-manufactured airliner has
experienced massive cost overruns and hundreds of backlogged orders due
to assembly problems.
Previous
problems and inspections have included concerns over the fuselage's
structural stiffeners or shims along with software glitches that
cancelled flights.
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