Operators of Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered aircraft are braced for a new round of inspection and replacement requirements in the wake of a continuing series of high pressure compressor surge incidents, the most serious of which struck a Sudan Airways Airbus A300-600R last March on take off from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The US Federal Aviation Administration is due to announce the tighter requirements this week. They are set to cover inspections of 2,000 engines powering 633 Airbus A300, A310 and Boeing 747, 767 and MD-11 aircraft. P&W, has been battling the surge issue on the 2.4m (94in) diameter version of the engine almost since it first entered service. It says the latest FAA action is "expected to focus on about 80 really high-time engines. The main emphasis of the action is to make sure one high-time engine does not fly with another."
The company developed a retrofit to cure the surge in 1999 only to quickly withdraw the modification after separate surge incidents on upgraded engines. P&W says a new solution is due to be ready in 2003.
Source: Flight International
