Boeing Nears Fix for 777 Engine Covers -- Update
May 12 2021 - 6:40PM
Dow Jones News
By Andrew Tangel
Boeing Co. is nearing a fix for engine covers like the one that
broke apart on a United Airlines 777 jet over Colorado earlier this
year, people briefed on the matter said.
The fix, expected to be completed as soon as early June, would
strengthen the engine covers to prevent plane parts from detaching
midair and striking the aircraft or falling to the ground below,
these people said.
After a United 777's engine failed shortly after takeoff from
Denver in February, its external cover broke apart, raining metal
on a nearby suburb. No one was injured, and the flight landed
safely.
The progress in developing a fix for the engine covers comes as
United Airlines Holdings Inc. hopes to return to service certain
Boeing 777 jets that are powered by Pratt & Whitney engines.
Boeing's fix is expected to include metal components that would
strengthen the engine covers, people familiar with the matter
said.
United took 24 of the jets out of service after the Denver
incident, and U.S. air-safety regulators ordered immediate
inspections of those engines' blades for cracks that could
potentially lead to failures and their covers detaching. United has
said it had another 28 of the jets with Pratt & Whitney engines
in storage. Other carriers that operate 777s with those engines
include South Korean and Japanese airlines.
United's Pratt & Whitney engine blades are undergoing
inspection, people familiar with the matter said. Pratt &
Whitney is a unit of aerospace company Raytheon Technologies Corp.
A spokeswoman for the engine maker said it was inspecting all
affected fan blades before those jets return to service.
United has hoped to resume flying the affected jets by the busy
summer season as travel demand picks up after a sharp decline due
to the Covid-19 pandemic, people familiar with the matter said. But
the timing of their return remains unclear.
"It's just too premature for us to outline what that schedule
looks like, " United Chief Operating Officer Jon Roitman said on an
earnings call in April. Citing "really productive collaboration"
with Boeing, Pratt & Whitney and regulators, Mr. Roitman added,
"We're really looking forward to getting the aircraft back in the
air safely."
A Boeing spokeswoman said the company continued to work with the
Federal Aviation Administration on potential design changes for
certain Pratt & Whitney engine covers. She said that the work
is exacting and time-consuming and that Boeing was making sure its
specialists have the time they need.
FAA chief Steve Dickson said in congressional testimony
Wednesday that the agency was working with Boeing and Pratt &
Whitney to prevent engine-cover breakups from damaging aircraft or
raining down debris. "We are requiring the manufacturers to address
strengthening" engine covers, Mr. Dickson said.
The FAA said the exact timing and requirements of its expected
order will depend on the completion of the design and engineering
work on the engine-cover fix.
The plane maker, federal regulators and U.S. safety
investigators have been focusing on the engine covers of Pratt
& Whitney-powered Boeing 777s since at least early 2018, when
an incident similar to the recent Denver episode occurred on
another United flight en route to Hawaii.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Boeing outlined
to FAA officials in August last year its initial plans to replace
components of those 777s' engine covers. The fix wasn't rolled out
before another engine cover broke apart on a Japan Airlines Co.
flight late last year or the February incident over Colorado.
Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 12, 2021 19:25 ET (23:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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