In two superhero movies starring
Superman, the Man of Steel gives reassurances to some people he had rescued
from aircraft that had been damaged mid-flight. He tells them not to be afraid
of flying because statistically speaking going by air is the safest way to
travel. That is true, and the only reason air accidents make big news and
horrify those who hear of them is due to how rare they actually happen compared
to mishaps on the road. Nevertheless, air-related incidents do tend to be
feared due to their potential for high casualties. Fortunately none of these
recent incidents ended fatally for all involved.
The Verge tells us that aircraft Boeing has another crisis on their
hands with one of their commercial airliner models after a 777 had dramatic
engine trouble in flight, forcing an emergency landing. United Airlines Flight
328 was headed from Denver to Honolulu last Saturday, February 20. Shortly
after takeoff there was an explosion in its right engine, leaving it on fire
and raining debris on the ground. They managed to turn around and land back at
Denver International without further incident, but it was certainly a close
call.
Over the weekend following the incident, United
Airlines and various agencies in the US and Japan have taken steps to put the
Boeing 777 under close scrutiny. UA put all its 777s out of active service as
the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began mandating inspections of the
aircraft. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism of
Japan also ordered the grounding of 777s in service under Japan Airlines (JAL)
and All Nippon Airways. The suspect element is of course, the 777 engine,
manufactured for Boeing by Pratt & Whitney. The PW4000 turbofan engine on
Flight 328’s right wing was reported to have fan-blade fractures, according to the
investigation by the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB).
In light of the incident, Boeing
is calling on all airlines flying aircraft with the PW4000, not just the 777s,
to ground them for inspection. In fact, a 747 transport plane with PW4000
engines that took off from the Netherlands on the same day as UA Flight 328
also had a similar mishap but was able to land safely. While the incidents did
not end in disaster like the 737 MAX, which was grounded worldwide after two
crashes in 2018 and 2019, this could become another headache for Boeing as well
as Pratt & Whitney.
Image courtesy of Financial Times
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