US National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt says damage to a fan blade in a Pratt & Whitney engine that failed in a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 is consistent with metal fatigue, according to a preliminary assessment. In another incident on the same engine type on a Japan Airlines 777 in December 2020, Japan's Transport Safety Board reported it found two damaged fan blades, one with a metal fatigue crack. The FAA in March 2019 after the February 2018 United engine failure attributed to fan blade fatigue ordered inspections every 6500 cycles. Sumwalt said the United incident was not considered an uncontained engine failure because the containment ring contained the parts as they were flying out. There was minor damage to the aircraft body but no structural damage, he said.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 23, 2021 02:26 UTC