An investigation continues into a shaft failure in a new GE Aviation engine on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with the National Transportation Safety Administration not yet offering an explanation for the failure.
Separately, the Royal Saudi Air Force ordered nearly 200 GE F110 engines to power new, twin-engine F-15 fighters, including spares. Fairfield-based GE did not immediately specify the contract”™s value.
Only in early July at the Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom, GE Aviation had trumpeted the GEnx engine”™s “outstanding performance” after nine months, with 100 engines in service at that point.
NTSB is conducting metallurgical inspections on the shaft, which fractured during a July 28 taxi test in Charlotte, S.C. NTSB classified the incident as a “contained engine failure,” which is characterized by broken parts remaining within the engine casing and generally not posing an immediate safety risk. NTSB is inspecting the engine at GE Aviation’s main plant in Evendale, Ohio.
The GEnx engine is dual-shaft engine in which one shaft connects the compressor spool at one end to the high-pressure turbine spool at the other end. A longer fan shaft connects the fan and booster in the front of the engine to the low-pressure turbine in the back.
