Friday, September 21, 2012

NTSB orders new GE cargo plane engines to undergo inspection

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, ll GEnx engines on Boeing 747-8 cargo planes must be inspected immediately for signs of cracks such as those found recently on three engine midshafts.

The planes should be grounded until the inspections are completed, the NTSB said in a statement last Friday.

The agency reported GE has used a field ultrasonic inspection method to inspect the fan midshaft on GEnx-1B engines, used on the 787 Dreamliner. The comparable but smaller GEnx-2B engines on passenger 747-8 jets have also been inspected, according to the NTSB, but 43 GEnx-2B engines on 747-8F cargo airplanes that have not yet been checked.

GE reported that the 10 planes that remain to be inspected should be completed this week.

For more of the Seattle Times story: seattletimes.com

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