Aviation Week reports, “Cracks in engine attachment components that have stalled Boeing’s 777-9 certification program were found in a fourth test aircraft that has not flown in nearly three years, Aviation Week has learned. The latest discovery, on WH004, is expected to help narrow down Boeing’s investigation into the failures in the thrust links—assemblies that connect the airframe with the aircraft’s GE Aerospace GE9X engines.
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: Issue
Boeing’s 777-9 Certification Program Paused to Address Engine Component Cracks
Aviation Week reports, “Cracks in engine attachment components that have stalled Boeing’s 777-9 certification program were found in a fourth test aircraft that has not flown in nearly three years, Aviation Week has learned. The latest discovery, on WH004, is expected to help narrow down Boeing’s investigation into the failures in the thrust links—assemblies that connect the airframe with the aircraft’s GE Aerospace GE9X engines.
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Boeing Pauses 777-9 Test Flights Due to Structural Component Issue
Flight Global reports Boeing confirms it “has halted flight tests of its entire 777-9 test fleet after discovering the failure of an engine-related structural component, , marking a setback to the widebody’s already delayed certification programme.”
Full Story (Flight Global)
Wizz Air Prepares for Grounded Aircraft Over Pratt & Whitney Engine Issues
Aviation Week reports that Wizz Air “said an average of 45 of its Airbus A320neo-family aircraft will be grounded due to Pratt & Whitney GTF engine issues as of mid-January 2024.” The carrier’s update “on the GTF groundings comes after it received a service bulletin Nov. 3; a grounding plan is being finalized.”
Full Story (Aviation Week – Subscription publication)
F-35 Engine Recommends F-135 Retrofit to Fix Vibration Issue
Aviation Week reported that the F-35 Joint Program Office “has issued a directive recommending that all Pratt & Whitney F135s powering the global fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35s be retrofitted within 90 days with a fix for a vibration problem that caused an aircraft to crash on Dec 15.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Boeing Pauses 777 Testing After Engine Issue
FlightGlobal reports that The Boeing Company “has halted its 777-9 flight-test programme due to a problem involving a flight-test aircraft’s GE Aerospace GE9X turbofan, prompting engine evaluations by GE.” Both companies confirm “the flight-test pause but provide few details about the problem, leaving the extent of the issue and its potential impact on the 777-9’s certification timeline unclear.” GE says it “discovered the problem, later found to involve temperatures, following a borescope inspection.” Boeing’s 777-9 certification program “is already substantially delayed, with Boeing most recently – in April – pushing its expected first 777-9 delivery back two years, to 2025.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)
NASA to Continue to Study Orion Heat Shield Issue Before Stacking Artemis II Rocket
Ars Technica reports, “NASA would like to start stacking the Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis II mission—the first human flight around the Moon since 1972—sometime next month, but the agency’s exploration chief says the milestone could be delayed as engineers continue studying the readiness of the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)