Mike Martin and Geoff Thomas
Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) are among regional carriers carrying out urgent checks on some Boeing 747-400 engines after the discovery of a problem on a Lufthansa aircraft led the German carrier to ground its entire fleet.
Boeing is working with several airlines including Lufthansa to correct an engine fire-extinguisher problem that led to the grounding of the German carrier's fleet of GE CF6-powered aircraft.
The problem also affects Pratt & Whitney PW4000 series 747 classics and 747-400s. In the case of the GE engines the cracks were only found on engines two and three, the inner powerplant.
The move, which followed the discovery of a crack in a hose that in the event of fire directs fire extinguishing material to the affected area of the engine, has implications for several major airlines operating similar aircraft and engines.
JAL says it is machining new parts at service stations worldwide to keep its fleet of 39 -400s running without causing delays. In Tokyo, the airline says it received a "primary notification" from Boeing.
At the time Flight Daily News went to press, SIA was half way through inspections and modifications on its fleet of 43 Boeing 747s powered by PW4056 engines through the fleet. A spokesman says: "The carrier is aware of the problem with fire extinguisher distribution lines and has initiated a modification programme to rectify it.
Modified
"So far, about half of our fleet of 43 Boeing 747-400s have been modified, and inspections have been carried out on those awaiting modification to ensure the fire extinguisher distribution lines are in good condition."
Australia's Qantas Airways has carried out engineering checks "with no defects found." Thai Airways was meeting yesterday to determine ways of running checks without disrupting operations.
The fault could affect nearly 250 aircraft, about half the world fleet of Boeing 747-400s.
A routine inspection of a Lufthansa aircraft brought the problem to light. Speaking at the show yesterday, Lufthansa Technik's August-Wilhelm Henningsen said engineers found that the copper pipe leading from the extinguisher bottles to the engine had fractured.
"We then examined two further airframes and found similar cracks and we then issued an instruction that all our 747-400s were to be checked before their next flight.
"By midnight we had examined 24 aircraft and found similar problems on eight. Two aircraft were still in the air but will be checked."
American broadcast organisation CNN yesterday quoted Lufthansa as saying the airline replaced the affected tubing with new Boeing parts in 1995, but the problem is with the new parts.
Source: Flight Daily News
