- According to investigators, the Pratt & Whitney engine failed minutes into United Airlines flight 328, headed from Colorado to Hawaii, leaving a mile of debris in its wake.
- After the incident, United grounded all of its Boeing 777s powered by PW4000 series engines.
- A preliminary investigation indicates the damage was “consistent with metal fatigue.
A recent news article published in the CNN written by Madeline Holcombe and Amir Vera, reveals the preliminary findings on the United Airlines flight engine failure.
What happened?
The PW4000 engine has 22 blades, investigators said, one of which was found lodged inside the jet engine’s containment ring.
Another was found in a soccer field in Broomfield, Colorado.
One of the blades in the plane’s right engine broke free at the hub, likely hitting another that was broken mid-span, investigators said Monday.
The former shows damage “consistent with metal fatigue,” NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said.
What did the passengers feel?
The flight fuselage also had damage to a non-critical composite piece designed to make the plane more aerodynamic, Sumwalt said.
On the plane, passengers saw the engine completely stripped of its outer casing, according to video from passenger Travis Loock.
The mood was tense, Loock told CNN, but everyone was “very calm” on board as the pilot came on to say they would be landing in four minutes.
“My daughter was sitting on the window and … I was just like, ‘don’t look, like let’s let’s close it up and let’s just pray,” passenger Brenda Dohn said.
The next step in the investigation process
The engine in question will be removed from the aircraft for additional inspection, Sumwalt said.
A section of a blade will be examined Tuesday after being flown by private jet Monday night to a Pratt & Whitney lab, where investigators believe they can determine for how long the blade was damaged before it failed.
NTSB arrived in Colorado
The NTSB arrived in Colorado on Saturday and began removing pieces of debris to a hangar for further examination, a tweet from the Broomfield Police Department said.
Investigators for the agency in Washington, DC, have begun an analysis of the flight’s cockpit voice and flight data recorders and have not yet inspected United Airlines maintenance records.
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Source: CNN
