GE TO CALL FOR ENGINE INSPECTIONS
General Electric Co. will tell aircraft operators to make another round of inspections on GE engines installed on Boeing Co.'s 787 and newest 747 models following an engine failure in Shanghai last month.
The so-called service bulletin will call for inspections of the lower pressure turbine, where the engine mounted on a Boeing 747-8 saw damage in the Shanghai incident, a GE spokesman said. That is a different area than where other flaws were found in the same engine type.
The latest round of inspections on GE's newest engine—the GEnx—is a problem for the world's largest jet-engine maker at a time when the aircraft market is booming and the battle among engine makers is fierce. GE's upcoming generation of aircraft engines relies heavily on technology from the GEnx.
Problems with the GEnx emerged in July during a ground test run of a 787 in North Charleston, S.C. The National Transportation Safety Board traced the problems to the failure of a part called the fan midshaft. Broader inspections found another cracked fan midshaft on a 787 in August that had yet to fly.
03/10/2012 : Kate Linebaugh / Wall Street Journal.
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