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UA328 772 Uncontained Engine Failure

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Zak (netAirspace FAA) 20 Feb 21, 21:17Post
Looks like exactly the same just happened to UA328 / N772UA / DEN-HNL:



BREAKING NEWS:

Firefighters confirm pieces of an aircraft are falling from the sky at 136th and Sheridan.

Denver Fire confirms they are responding to an issue with an aircraft at DIA.

https://twitter.com/DillonMThomas/statu ... 0266270723

Image
https://twitter.com/flightradar24/statu ... 5429260289

Looks like they safely returned to DEN.
Ideology: The mistaken belief that your beliefs are neither beliefs nor mistaken.
Zak (netAirspace FAA) 20 Feb 21, 21:26Post
Those were no small parts that they dropped:
https://twitter.com/flightradar24/statu ... 2376035334

Looks like an uncontained engine failure.

FWIW, N772UA is one of the oldest 777s. Line number 5, third oldest still flying. Built in November 1994.
Ideology: The mistaken belief that your beliefs are neither beliefs nor mistaken.
Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 20 Feb 21, 22:00Post
To entice people to click through to the video in the link:

Image
Zak (netAirspace FAA) 20 Feb 21, 22:40Post
Holy mother of all uncontained engine failures! {bugeye}
Ideology: The mistaken belief that your beliefs are neither beliefs nor mistaken.
ShyFlyer (Founding Member) 20 Feb 21, 22:52Post
Heard about it at work via our dispatch channel. Apparently it continued to shed parts the entire trip back to DEN.
Make Orwell fiction again.
CO777ER (Database Editor & Founding Member) 20 Feb 21, 23:28Post
{bugeye}
Mark 21 Feb 21, 01:05Post
The bloody thing was still running. I'll be damned.
Commercial aircraft flown in: B712 B722 B732 B734 B737 B738 B741 B742 B744 B752 B753 B762 B772 A310 A318 A319 A320 A321 DC91 DC93 DC94 DC1030 DC1040 F100 MD82 MD83 A223 CR2 CR7 E175
ShyFlyer (Founding Member) 21 Feb 21, 04:56Post
Some pretty impressive photos at the link:

https://kdvr.com/news/local/metal-falls ... e-trouble/
Make Orwell fiction again.
Zak (netAirspace FAA) 21 Feb 21, 10:48Post
Full ATC:

Ideology: The mistaken belief that your beliefs are neither beliefs nor mistaken.
ShanwickOceanic (netAirspace FAA) 22 Feb 21, 11:37Post
US plane manufacturer Boeing has recommended grounding all 777 aircraft with the same type of engine that suffered failure and shed debris over Denver on Saturday.

It said 128 jets should be suspended until inspections are carried out.

United Airlines and Japan's two main operators have already stopped using 56 planes with the same engine.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56149894

Mods, maybe this incident should be in its own thread?
My friend and I applied for airline jobs in Australia, but they didn't Qantas.
miamiair (netAirspace FAA) 22 Feb 21, 13:05Post
Boeing weighs in...

Link
And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
miamiair (netAirspace FAA) 22 Feb 21, 14:02Post
FlightGlobal: :Uncontained Failure"

Link
And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
JLAmber (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 22 Feb 21, 15:17Post
Posts moved here from the Daily Incident Thread.

The UK CAA have banned all P&W4000 powered 777s from UK airspace. Not sure why, it seems like a compliance exercise at this point:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-bans-boein ... 51919.html
A million great ideas...
DXing 22 Feb 21, 17:16Post
Mark wrote:The bloody thing was still running. I'll be damned.


It wasn't running. That's most likely left over oil and fuel burning off from broken lines.

There was someone saying this was a bird strike. If so then pterodactyls must still roam the skies over Colorado.

Scarier yet are some pictures out today of it sitting on the ramp and just behind the pack inlet is a pretty big hole in the fuselage. If whatever that was had hit the center fuel tank this could have really been a disaster. As it is you can see some kind of moisture on the ground beneath the airplane. I would try and post the picture but I am not spending another dime on PB.

I never cared for dispatching the A model 777 when I was working there. They were airplanes without equal back in their day, but that day has come and gone.

Not surprised that Boeing agreed with grounding all the PW birds. With the trouble they've had in recent years the last thing they want to be seen doing is saying everything's ok and then it boomerangs back on them. They've got plenty of 777-300's and 777X's they would be happy to sell as replacements! :))
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?
miamiair (netAirspace FAA) 22 Feb 21, 17:47Post
DXing wrote:Scarier yet are some pictures out today of it sitting on the ramp and just behind the pack inlet is a pretty big hole in the fuselage.


Here you go.
Attachments
UA777.jpg
UA777.jpg (98.23 KiB) Viewed 1615 times
And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
GQfluffy (Database Editor & Founding Member) 22 Feb 21, 18:50Post
{bugeye} Damn.

I imagine the process of repairing that would be straight forward (fuselage wise)...who knows what is in disrepair beneath the skin.

Can 772s be re-engined or is it cheaper just to sell and replace the whole aircraft?
Teller of no, fixer of everything, friend of the unimportant and all around good guy; the CAD Monkey
DXing 22 Feb 21, 19:04Post
Thanks Vic.

See the moisture on the ground under the pack? Same under the engine. You expect the stuff under the engine, still some residual leakage but that one under the pack is worriesome. Something got nicked there.

GQfluffy wrote:{bugeye} Damn.

I imagine the process of repairing that would be straight forward (fuselage wise)...who knows what is in disrepair beneath the skin.

Can 772s be re-engined or is it cheaper just to sell and replace the whole aircraft?


I'm sure they've got a spare P&W they could hang on there. Changing out to RR's? Not sure if that is a cost effective option given the age of the rest of the air frame, and would all the hoses and other connections line up correctly? Wouldn't the avionics have to be reprogrammed as well?

Since this thing was going to HNL and back it's probably in the cattle car set up as well so no really expensive lie flat seats would have to be set aside waiting for a new aircraft to show up.
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?
miamiair (netAirspace FAA) 23 Feb 21, 14:18Post
NTSB says United engine failure caused by metal fatigue

After a preliminary onsite exam, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says the engine failure on a United Airlines aircraft on 20 February was likely caused by metal fatigue.

........

The fan blade that was severed at the root “indicates damage consistent with metal fatigue,” NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt says on 22 February. “This piece is being flown on a private jet tonight to a Pratt & Whitney lab where it will be examined tomorrow under the supervision of NTSB investigators.”

FlightGlobal Link
And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
ShyFlyer (Founding Member) 23 Feb 21, 17:29Post
DXing wrote:There was someone saying this was a bird strike. If so then pterodactyls must still roam the skies over Colorado.

We do have a lot of Canadian Geese, eh. {laugh}

Bird strikes are easy to rule out, as there would be remains...remaining in the engine. Additionally, the event occurred at or above 12K. Not too many birds up that high. Not impossible though.

My first thought was a fan blade deciding it didn't want to go to Hawaii with the rest of his buddies. Had it happened lower, I would have first thought birds.
Make Orwell fiction again.
Mark 23 Feb 21, 17:54Post
ShyFlyer wrote:My first thought was a fan blade deciding it didn't want to go to Hawaii with the rest of his buddies.


I've learned that many spontaneous blade detachments are caused by manufacturing error... like getting a grain of sand or other impurity in the blade's molten metal while it's being vacuum cast. The blade works for years until a little fatigue makes the blade break while in use, often while under stress.
Commercial aircraft flown in: B712 B722 B732 B734 B737 B738 B741 B742 B744 B752 B753 B762 B772 A310 A318 A319 A320 A321 DC91 DC93 DC94 DC1030 DC1040 F100 MD82 MD83 A223 CR2 CR7 E175
Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 24 Feb 21, 15:41Post
I saw that the NTSB is going to let people harvest little parts they find as souvenirs. Cool!
Queso (netAirspace ATC Tower Chief & Founding Member) 26 Feb 21, 20:32Post
Wasn't our old pal Airfoilsguy involved in the manufacturing of turbine blades around the time that one was made?

{mischief}
Slider... <sniff, sniff>... you stink.
DXing 27 Feb 21, 13:41Post
Most people just blame the reporter. While that's where the original blame lays, the fact is that the reporter has to submit it to the editor who is supposed to review the story, then it goes on to a print make up person who would also look it over for mistakes, and finally, in the old school method, to a typesetter. That's at least 3 people that have a chance to scratch their heads and say "this isn't right, is it?". There may even be more editors involved. This isn't even the original home of the story, these folks are reprinting, and they didn't catch it either. Just amazing how little most folks know.

It’s not currently known if the engine that failed was the original delivered with the plane to United in 1995, but if so its maintenance history will receive special scrutiny.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ancient-boeing-777-strews-debris-over-colorado/ar-BB1dRBc4

Delivered in 1995, how many hours would that engine have on it, if nothing was replaced and it was in it's "original" state?
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?
ShyFlyer (Founding Member) 28 Feb 21, 05:16Post
DXing wrote:Just amazing how little most folks know.

Journalistas know all. Questioning them only makes them angry.
Make Orwell fiction again.
DXing 06 Mar 21, 19:35Post
Looks like ordinary fatigue cracks caused the problem. According to the story the engine was within inspection parameters when the blade cut loose.

A fan blade that snapped off a United Airlines engine mid-flight, causing it to rain debris over Colorado last month, had microscopic cracks, federal investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.

The broken blade on the Pratt & Whitney engine had been used on 2,979 flights since its last inspection in 2016, the NTSB said. It wasn’t due for another inspection until it reached 6,500 flights – more than twice the number it had flown when it broke.


https://www.foxnews.com/us/united-planes-fan-blade-had-multiple-cracks-last-inspected-4-years-ago-ntsb
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?
 

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