Rolls-Royce Recalls Faulty Plane Engines

Rolls-Royce has recalled faulty aeroplane engine parts manufactured at a Scottish plant.

The company confirmed yesterday that an inquiry had been ordered at the plant in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire.

It came after three engines shut down in mid-air on passenger jets because of components which had been built at Inchinnan.

In the most serious case, an engine on a plane which flew from Sydney airport failed after take-off.

The pilot was forced to abort the flight and managed to land the Airbus safely on just one engine.

Two other mid-air engine failures were traced to defective vanes made at Rolls-Royce's Scottish factory for V2500 aircraft engines.

In at least eight incidents the vanes, which suck air into the engine, had broken under pressure.

Rolls-Royce has been recalling all the faulty parts.

The firm said they were all made over a one-month period in 2004 during a brief change in the production process.

The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that it was aware of the problem and a spokesman said that the watchdog was investigating.

Rolls-Royce insisted the incidents were isolated and there had been no recurrence of the fault.

Spokesman Peter BarnesWallace said: "These were three incidents out of the 20 million flying hours RollsRoyce engines clock up every year.

"The faulty vanes were made over a month at the plant in 2004.

"We have been recovering all the vanes in question and expect to recall the final one this month.

"The CAA are aware of it. None of the planes concerned were ever grounded.

"There were no flight cancellations and no safety risks."

"Safety is always our priority, " he added.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.