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United pushes back the return of dozens of Boeing 777 jets until at least May 13
United Airlines doesn't expect to fly dozens of Boeing 777 jets, grounded more than a year ago after one suffered an engine failure, until at least mid-May. The airline had most recently planned for at least some of the planes to return to service this month. United's Pratt & Whitney-powered 777s were taken out of service after an engine failure shortly after takeoff from Denver in early 2021. United Airlines doesn't expect to fly dozens of Boeing 777 jets, grounded more than… (www.msn.com) Altro...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Your personal no fly list? LOL! Drama queen much?
No one is stopping you from playing Russian Roulette with your life!
As an old Materials Engineer with 50 plus years NDT experience a lot having to do with turbine failures, I said some time ago that the push to design larger and larger engines while cutting materials tolerances, especially on rotating parts in order to achieve better fuel economy would lead to more inflight failures, it looks good on paper, but stress is stress and metal fatigue is ever present in the operating environment
Ken, yes materials cumulative stress / cycles are at the heart of the matter. These titanium fan blades were touted as state-of-the art when introduced around year 1995. AFAIK, the specific engine type 4077 has not been in production for quite some while. A poster at a different website suggested an Internet search term for Cold Dwell Fatigue. From October 2021. it discusses life-limiting factors in aircraft engine titanium alloys.
I applaud United. They are making sure the Jets are safe before they return them to duty and that is what aviation needs right now. Safety.
Well that’s your opinion. fair enough. I personally don’t know what specifically triggered the delay. Other groups outside of United might have exercised influence. To say wait-a-while before return-to-service Such as FAA, Pratt, pilots union? Maybe the recent set of PW 4060 failures is prompting a review of other systemic reliability issues?
- Having closely watched the details of the spectacular PW 4077 engine failures, IMO I choose to place those United 777 birds on my personal no-fly list.
- Adding to concerns with United's P&W-powered wide bodies are the two failures of PW 4060 engines over the Atlantic on United's 767-300s in the last 14 days.