Photos: Air India receives first Charleston built Boeing 787 Dreamliner VT-ANI

Last week Boeing delivered to Air India, the carrier's third 787 Dreamliner. ZA237, LN 46, registered VT-ANI. This the first aircraft built at the new Boeing assembly line in Charleston, and the first outside the venerable Everett factory near Seattle.

Courtesy Boeing, some special photos of the delivery ceremony.

Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar and Air India Representatives cut the ribbon

While VT-ANI was the third Dreamliner delivered to Air India, the carrier released a photo of this aircraft, instead of the first aircraft that was delivered.

Do you know the registration number and line number of the first Dreamliner delivered to Air India? Post your answer via a comment.

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NTSB issues urgent safety alerts for GEnx engines; Air India, JAL, Ethiopian, Qatar 787 Dreamliners affected

The National Transportation Safety Board, the independent safety investigator of the United States, has issued two urgent safety recommendations (A-12-52 and A-12-53) on General Electric GEnx engines, which power the latest generation of Boeing aircraft; the 787 Dreamliners and the Boeing 747-8 both freighters and Intercontinental passenger jets.

The GEnx-1B engines power the 787 Dreamliners operating with Air India, Japan Airlines (JAL), Ethiopian Airlines, and soon, Qatar Airways. The two other 787 operators All Nippon Airways (ANA) and LAN Chile, have their aircraft powered by the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines.

The GEnx-2B engines power the Boeing 747-8i of Lufthansa and the 747-8F freighters of many carriers.

The investigation of the GEnx engines began with the July 28th engine failure incident at Charleston, SC, USA, involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner destined for Air India. Initial investigations suggested a fracture failure of the fan midshaft (FMS), first reported by Bangalore Aviation. While that investigation is still on-going, on August 31, the NTSB found similar indications on another GEnx-1B fitted on, a yet to fly, 787. The fan midshaft was removed from that engine for further inspection and examination. As a result of the investigative work to date, the NTSB has determined that the fan midshafts (FMS) on the GEnx engines fractured or cracked at the forward end of the shaft where the retaining nut is installed.

The NTSB is also concerned about a loss of power on the GEnx-2B engine of a Boeing 747-8F cargo flight, operated by Air Bridge Cargo, at Shanghai, China, during take-off. The airplane had accelerated through 50 knots when the engine's low pressure rotor speed dropped. The pilot rejected the takeoff and returned to the ramp. Photographs of the low pressure turbine show damage similar to the GEnx-1B engine from the Charleston incident.

The urgent recommendations are: (1) (A-12-52) Issue an airworthiness directive to require, before further flight, the immediate ultrasonic inspection of the fan midshaft (FMS) in all GEnx-1B and -2B engines that have not undergone inspection, and (2) (A-12-53) Require repetitive inspections of the fan midshaft at a sufficiently short interval that would permit multiple inspections and detection of a crack before it could reach critical length and the fan midshaft fractures.

NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman said

"The parties to our investigation -- the FAA, GE and Boeing -- have taken many important steps and additional efforts are in progress to ensure that the fleet is inspected properly," "We are issuing this recommendation today because of the potential for multiple engine failures on a single aircraft and the urgent need for the FAA to act immediately."

The engine manufacturer, GE, has developed a field ultrasonic inspection method to inspect the fan midshaft in the area where the fracture and crack occurred. This inspection can be done with the engine still installed on the airplane, thus saving operators a lot of money and downtime. To date, all in-service and spare GEnx-1B engines have been inspected. In addition, all GEnx-2B engines on passenger airplanes have been inspected. However, as per the the NTSB, approximately 43 GEnx-2B engines mounted on 747-8F cargo airplanes have not yet been inspected, and this is a concern on potential fan midshaft failures.

Read the full safety recommendations here.

The NTSB is still continuing its investigations, but these safety recommendations have the potential of snow-balling in to a major issue for national carrier Air India. After the Charleston incident, delivery of the first 787 for the carrier was delayed, with Indian aviation regulator, the DGCA, slow to grant safety clearance. At least two possibly three 787s were due to be delivered in rapid succession in the next few weeks. Will the carrier delay induction awaiting clarifications from the engine manufacturer?

Prudence demands they should. After all, engines can make up more than 30% the cost of the aircraft, and need to be beyond 100% reliable.

Share your thoughts via a comment.

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NTSB traces Air India Boeing 787 GEnx engine failure to fan mid-shaft fracture

The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released an interim report on the progress of its investigation in to the failure of a General Electric GEnx engine on-board a Boeing 787 Dreamliner destined for Air India on July 28th last. The have traced the failure to a fracture on the forward end of the Fan Mid-Shaft.

Bangalore Aviation has exclusive obtained this exemplar image showing approximate location of the failure.

The National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation of the July 28, 2012 contained engine failure that occurred on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner during a pre-delivery taxi test in Charleston, South Carolina. A contained engine failure is a specific engine design feature in which components might separate inside the engine but either remain within the engine’s cases or exit the engine through the tail pipe. This design feature generally does not pose immediate safety risks.

Last week, the NTSB sent an investigator to the scene to gather information on the incident and subsequently launched a full investigation into the cause of the failure, led by NTSB Investigator-in-Charge, Mr. David Helson.

On August 1, 2012, a team of experts from the NTSB, FAA, Boeing and GE Aviation specializing in engine systems and metallurgy traveled to a GE facility in Cincinnati, OH to disassemble and examine the failed GEnx engine. GE is the manufacturer of the GEnx engine. The parties to the investigation have been extremely cooperative in assisting NTSB personnel in its review and assessment.

As a result of the investigative work to date, the NTSB has determined that a fan mid-shaft on the failed GEnx engine fractured at the forward end of the shaft, rear of the threads where the retaining nut is installed. The fan mid-shaft is undergoing several detailed examinations including dimensional and metallurgical inspections.

GEnx engine cut-away drawing not part of NTSB release.

The GEnx engine is a newly designed aircraft engine. It is a “dual shaft” engine, meaning that 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.

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, which is a combined unit on the 787 Dreamliner, was transported to the agency's Recorders Laboratory in Washington, DC for processing and readout. Both recordings captured the event and analysis is ongoing.

Moving forward, investigators will continue the detailed examination of the engine and metallurgical analysis of its components. The investigators have also begun reviewing the engine manufacturing and assembly records.

This investigation is ongoing. The information released today is factual in nature and does not include any analysis. Additional factual information may be released as it is developed.

Engine experts in India say that the main component carrying shafts inside an engine are an important part of the engine, but it is too early to say whether this fracture was caused due to materials flaw, a fault in manufacturing, or a design flaw. Depending on the reason for failure, it has the potential to become serious. However, the NTSB has not issued any recommendations yet. Boeing is due to deliver a GEnx powered 787 to Ethiopian Airlines early next week.

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Boeing 787 Dreamliner destined for Air India suffers serious engine mishap. NTSB to investigate

The second Boeing 787 Dreamliner to be built at the airframer's Charleston, South Carolina facility suffered a serious engine mishap during pre-flight testing on the afternoon of Saturday. This aircraft is due to be delivered to national carrier Air India as VT-ANJ.

A Boeing spokesperson told Bangalore Aviation

"A 787 experienced an engine issue July 28 while undergoing preflight runway testing in North Charleston. As the NTSB investigates, Boeing and GE are working closely with the agency and are committed to resolving the issue appropriately.

While the investigation is in its early stages, we are unaware of any operational issue that would present concerns about the continued safe operation of in-service 787s powered by GE engines. However, should the investigation determine a need to act, Boeing has the processes in place to take action and will do so appropriately."

Boeing 787 Dreamliner due to become N1015L, at India Aviation show, Hyderabad, March 2012.

As per The Post and Courier newspaper report

Debris from a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner's engine fell onto the runway and into the grass at Charleston International Airport Saturday afternoon, sparking a fire, shutting down the airport and diverting flights for more than an hour.

The incident occurred around 16:00 local (01:30 IST). The Charleston airport spokesperson said "the airport closed around 4:30 p.m. and reopened at 5:41 p.m."

The gravity of the incident is serious enough to merit an investigation by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The aircraft is powered by the General Electric Co. GEnx engine. Japan Airlines is currently the only operator of GEnx powered 787s with four aircraft in its fleet. The only other operator of the 787, launch customer, All Nippon Airways (ANA), uses the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines.

Engine manufacturer GE released this statement to Bangalore Aviation

"During a ground test run in North Charleston on July 28, a GEnx-1B engine on a non-revenue generating Boeing 787 aircraft experienced an issue. No one was injured.

About 100 GEnx engines are in service, and they have accumulated more than 125,000 flight hours.

GE continually monitors and analyzes the performance of the GEnx fleet in service, and we are not aware of operational issues that would hazard the continued safe flight of aircraft powered by these engines."

Boeing operates Dreamliner assembly lines in two locations, both in the US. Charleston in South Carolina and Everett in Washington. The Charleston facility rolled out its first 787 Dreamliner, also destined for Air India as VT-ANI, earlier this year, in April.

This incident comes within the week after ANA partially grounded some of its 787s after corrosion was found in its Trent 1000 engine gearbox components.

The GEnx engine is also used to power the newest version of the venerable Jumbo Jet, the 747-8.

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First South Carolina built Boeing 787 Dreamliner destined for Air India has its first flight

The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner built at their new South Carolina facility, completed its first flight yesterday, even as its destined customer, national carrier, Air India, delayed taking delivery of its first 787 thanks to the on-going strike by its international pilots.

Aircraft number 46, which is expected to become VT-ANI when it is delivered to Air India, performed its flight as BOE237 (Boeing 237). The almost four hour test flight (see flight track here) was piloted by Tim Berg and Randy Neville took off from Charleston International Airport. The flight test profile tested the airplane's controls and systems in a series of scenarios designed to verify the airplane operates as designed. The tests occurred in all stages of flight beginning prior to taxi, through final landing and taxi.

During the flight, the crew checked the functionality of onboard systems at high and medium altitudes. They also checked backup and critical safety elements including cabin pressurization, avionics, and navigation and communications systems. In addition, they shut down and re-started each engine during flight.

After the flight, Tim Berg declared

"The airplane performed exactly as we expected."

The airplane will now be flown to Ft. Worth, Texas to be painted with Air India's livery before returning to Boeing South Carolina for delivery, currently planned for sometime in 2012.

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