Plane engines found with damaged, missing parts

[October 17, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- After finding several passenger aircraft engines with damaged and missing parts, safety officials on Thursday urged the Federal Aviation Administration to order inspections of similar engines, particularly those long in service.

The PW2037 engines currently are in use in 725 Boeing 757 jetliners, according to Pratt & Whitney, their manufacturer.

The National Transportation Safety Board, in a letter to the FAA seeking the inspections, cited concerns that pieces of the engine could penetrate fuel tanks, causing a leak and fire.

"Information gathered to date has raised serious concerns that warrant immediate action by the FAA," the safety board wrote Robert Sturgell, the FAA's acting administrator.

The safety board began examining the engines after Delta Air Lines pilots reported hearing a loud bang during a takeoff roll at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport on Aug. 6. The board said the pilots noticed one engine lost power before they slowed the plane and returned to the parking area. There were no reported injuries to the 166 passengers or six crew members.

An investigation turned up several broken, cracked or missing lugs that hold turbine blades, and damaged blades in the jet's engine, the NTSB letter said. Similar problems were found in an American Airlines jetliner with the same PW2037 engine, according to the board.

The NTSB said it has learned that damaged lugs have been found in four other PW2037 engines, but Pratt & Whitney has not responded to a request for more information on those cases

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FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the agency was aware of the problem and was working with Pratt & Whitney. No decision has been made about whether to order inspections of PW2037 engines.

The FAA is trying figure out if needs to order the inspections of all PW2037 engines, or just engines made during a specific time period, Brown said.

"We're looking for a little bit more of a surgical approach," Brown said. "This is not something where you just park the plane and look at the engine."

The inspections would require taking the aircraft out of service, possibly for days, Brown said.

Jennifer Whitlow, a spokeswoman for Pratt & Whitney, said the company is "involved in the investigation and we are fully cooperating with the NTSB and Delta Air Lines."

The Boeing 757 is a twin-engine short-to-medium-range jetliner manufactured for 23 years until November 2005. The are still more then 1,030 of the airliners in service, according to Boeing's Web site.

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On the Net:

National Transportation Safety Board letter:
http://tinyurl.com/5y7cry

Federal Aviation Administration:
http://www.faa.gov/

Pratt & Whitney: http://www.pw.utc.com

[Associated Press; By JOAN LOWY]

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