US Plane Engines Found With Damaged, Missing Parts

WASHINGTON_Federal safety officials have found several passenger aircraft engines with damaged and missing parts and urged the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday to order inspections of all similar engines.

The engines are currently in use in 725 aircraft, a large number of them Boeing 757 jetliners, according to Pratt & Whitney, the engine manufacturer.

The problems were cited by the National Transportation Safety Board in a letter urging the Federal Aviation Administration to order inspections of the engines. The board said a major consideration is that pieces of the engine could penetrate fuel tanks and cause a fuel leak and fire.

"Information gathered to date has raised serious concerns that warrant immediate action by the FAA," the safety board wrote Robert Sturgell, the FAA's acting administrator.

The safety board began examining the engines after Delta Air Lines pilots reported hearing a loud bang during a takeoff roll at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Aug. 6. The board said the pilots noticed one engine had lost power, then slowed the aircraft and returned to the parking area. No injuries were reported from the 166 passengers or six-member crew.

A subsequent investigation turned up several broken, cracked or missing lugs that hold turbine blades, and damaged blades in the Delta jet's engine, the letter said. Similar problems also were found in a second American Airlines jetliner with the same PW2037 engine, the letter said.

In addition, the board said it has learned that damaged lugs have been found in four other PW2037 engines, but Pratt & Whitney has not responded to a request for more information on those cases.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the agency was aware of the problem and was working with Pratt & Whitney. No decision has been made whether to order inspections of PW2037 engines.

The agency is trying figure out if needs to order the inspections of all PW2037 engines, or just engines made during a specific time period, Brown said.

"We're looking for a little bit more of a surgical approach," Brown said. "This is not something where you just park the plane and look at the engine."

The inspections would require taking the aircraft out of service, possibly for days, Brown said.

Jennifer Whitlow, a spokeswoman for Pratt & Whitney, said the company is "involved in the investigation and we are fully cooperating with the NTSB and Delta Air Lines."

The Boeing 757 is a twin-engine short-to-medium-range jetliner manufactured for 23 years until November 2005. There still are more then 1,030 of the airliners in service, according to Boeing's Web site.

___

On the Net:

National Transportation Safety Board letter: http://tinyurl.com/5y7cry

Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov

Pratt & Whitney: http://www.pw.utc.com