A fractured weld joint in an oil line was the cause of an engine problem on an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER that was forced to make an in-flight engine shutdown and diversion on 7 September 2016.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says that the aircraft (A6-EGA) was enroute from Brisbane to Dubai with 22 crewmembers and 308 passengers on-board.
As the aircraft was around 650km north-west of Adelaide, the crew noticed that the oil level in the left General Electric GE90 engine was decreasing. As a result, they contacted Emirates’ engineering to advise them of the situation.
Following that, an electronic message advised the crew that the engine was low on oil. They ran through an associated checklist, before declaring a ‘pan’ and diverted to Adelaide airport. The 777 landed safely without further incident.
“A subsequent engineering inspection found the left oil supply line to bearings numbers 4 and 5 had fractured and the associated clamp was broken,” the ATSB says, noting that this led to an oil leak which resulted in the low oil quantity and pressure warnings.
Emirates subsequently inspected its other 777-300ERs for signs of potential leaks in other engines, but none were identified.
The ASTB praised the crew for their handling of the incident, noting that it was “an excellent example of effective crew resource management techniques when faced with an abnormal situation.”
Source: Cirium Dashboard
