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On this episode of AvTalk, we discuss what we know so far about the engine failure aboard United Airlines flight UA328 and what investigators and regulators are doing now to ensure that the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine is safe to operate.
It’s raining engine parts
On Saturday, 20 February two engine failures on two different aircraft led to two very different responses. Over Maastricht, a Longtail Aviation 747 ejected engine components from its number 1 engine after it failed just after take off. The aircraft held while jettisoning fuel and made a safe landing at Liège (not Leizig as Ian misstated) a short time later.
Later in the day, United Airlines UA328 departed Denver and approximately 4 minutes after takeoff its number 2 engine failed. Engine parts, including the inlet cowl rained down on Broomfield, Colorado west of Denver and the flight made a safe landing back at Denver 23 minutes after take off.
We pick up the discussion to see what has happened in the week since, including the worldwide grounding of the PW4000-112 engine pending detailed inspections.
Helpful UA328 links
- UA328 flight data and updates on investigator and regulator actions
- Twitter thread by former 777 (and current 767) pilot “Miami Rick” on the actions the crew would perform in an engine failure scenario
- Where are the grounded PW4000-powered 777s?
Planes in, planes out
We run through the wide variety of fleet movements made by airlines over the past year.
Updates on the MAX
SCAT Airlines puts their MAX 8 back in service and the US Department of Transportation Inspector General releases its report on the FAA’s certification of the 737 MAX.
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