Atlas Air Boeing 747-8 cargo plane - possible uncontained engine failure 4

[EnzoAus]

ABC (Australia) is reporting an engine fire on an Atlas Air Boeing 747 cargo plane. The link includes the article and a video of the plane on fire. Apparently a tennis ball-sized hole was found above the engine after it landed safely. The Atlas Boeing 747-8 is eight years old according to the FAA, and is powered by four General Electric GEnx engines. CNN also has an article on the event.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01...as-air-fire-emergency-landing-miami/103371366

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/19/us/miami-boeing-plane-emergency-landing/index.html

 

[SWComposites]

Only a few years ago Southwest flight 1380 had an uncontained failure of a single fan blade. The blade broke a window on the 737 resulting in the death of a passenger. wrong. after the blade failure, the fan cowl detached and struck the window. still should not have happened, but the failure sequence was way more complicated than a lost blade (all I'm willing/allowed to say in an open forum). can't recall if the NTSB report has been released (probably has).

 

[3DDave]

NTSB had the report out and there is a program to harden the cowl to prevent such a problem in the future. The rarity of fan blade loss and the limited chance of letting to at the same spot is likely why there is no rush to ground planes. The fragment had to hit in just the right place to pop the window out. Part of the problem is the cowl is not rotationaly symmetrical and therefore even extensive engine stand testing would never be sufficient to certainly detect the problem.

If one decided to blow blades off in 3 degree increments, destroying 120 engines? No engine maker can afford that. Maybe sophisticated dynamic FEA analysis like is used in automotive crash resistance?

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR1903.pdf

 

[SWComposites]

a) fan cowls are not included in blade out tests
b) there have been a LOT of very detailed non-linear dynamic FEM analyses run for the 737NG nacelle blade out condition

 

[3DDave]

a) didn't say they were.
b) obviously insufficient to identify this problem.

 

[SWComposites]

The models were run recently, after the incident, and have closely simulated the actual event, and have been used to develop the structural fixes. The technology at the time the 737NG was certified was not capable of the required level of analysis.

 

[3DDave]

It does help to know what they are looking for. Even if the capacity had existed, the imagination to see the need to do so would have been lacking.