MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2021) The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will be carrying out thorough inspections of Boeing 777 planes after one of such aircraft suffered engine failure on Saturday, prompting United Airlines to temporarily halt flights involving such planes.
"After consulting with my team of aviation safety experts about yesterday's engine failure aboard a Boeing 777 airplane in Denver, I have directed them to issue an Emergency Airworthiness Directive that would require immediate or stepped-up inspections of Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines. This will likely mean that some airplanes will be removed from service," FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement.
According to Dickson, the inspection interval for the specific model of engine, which is used only on Boeing 777 planes, should be stepped up.
"Exact details of the inspection will be specified in the emergency order," the FAA administrator said.
Meanwhile, United Airlines said on Twitter that it was temporarily putting flights involving Boeing 777 planes on hold.
"We are voluntarily & temporarily removing 24 Boeing 777 aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney 4000 series engines from our schedule. We will continue to work closely with regulators to determine any additional steps and expect only a small number of customers to be inconvenienced," United Airlines said.
A Boeing 777 plane with over 230 people on board, bound from Denver to Honolulu, suffered engine failure and had to turn back on Saturday. It landed safely and nobody was injured but debris from the jet's engine fell on the Denver suburb of Broomfield. No injuries were reported on the ground.
