There is probably nothing ever created by man (or woman) that is more intricately designed and engineered as jet turbine and fan blades. I found this neat article, which is more about material and forming process.
It's still relevant to consider that this event could have been catastrophic but wasn't. Also, it's extremely rare for these parts to fail. I know there are reported incidents, but taken the number in service and the MTBF, the reliability rate is extremely high. Even considering that, it may still be excessive due to criticality and resultant nature of the events that could ensue.
Brad Waybright
The more you know, the more you know you don't know.
So that's what aeronautical guys call duct tape... someone on the ground, that had one of the large covers land in his yard... should have applied some duct tape and taken pictures... just for humour.
Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?
and part penetrated the fusilage just below the window line... could have penetrated someone sitting at the 'window' (I understand that some windows are missing, for this reason).
Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?
"All Boeing 777s with the same engine as the passenger plane which caught fire after take-off scattering engine debris over a US city will be temporarily banned from entering UK airspace, it was revealed today.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has acted after Boeing recommended that airlines ground all 777s with the type of engine that blew apart after take-off from Denver International Airport on Saturday. "
Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?
I was on a flight once, where while we were waiting to finish loading I noticed out the window a guy using duct tape to secure something near the leading edge of the wing. Not sure what it was as it was on the underside, but it was only a small piece of tape, maybe six inches long. After he finished, he got another guy to look at it and they both seemed satisfied, so I never gave it a second thought.
Excerpt from the webpage-- Since entering revenue service in 1987, Pratt & Whitney has delivered more than 2,500 PW4000-94'' engines that have collectively logged more than 120 million dependable flight hours on commercial aircraft around the world.
I guess I would consider that a pretty good testimony, but of course, I wasn't on one of those few planes that experienced a rare failure.
Brad Waybright
The more you know, the more you know you don't know.
And no one the ground in Broomfield Colorado was hurt.
My wife asked, so who would you turn your damages to, and I answered my insurance company, and let them sort it out. I would not want to waste my time trying to find out what airline, what engine manufacture, who maintained it, and so forth.
And amazing the plane can fly, and land without one engine.
cranky its what's called a pref A aircraft which all public transport aircraft are.
It means they have guaranteed performance after an engine failure. So they can climb and get back to a runway "one donk down" as we say in Scotland. in fact the 777 is whats called ETOPs certified which means it can go more than 60 mins away for a suitable runway on one engine. I think its 270 mins certified... In the trade ETOPS stands for Extended Twin OPerationS. But we say it stands for Engine Turning Or Passengers Swimming.
They can actually fail an engine before takeoff and still takeoff and land again. After a speed called V1 we are going like it or not.
When we talk about speeds the whole reason why jets work so well is that props have a limit due to the tips of the props going transonic and the resultant vibration. They put a cowl round them and they can run them faster and make the fans bigger.
Pretty much everything that comes out a turbine is super sonic in normal temperatures if it fails.
The Avherald article got updated, including an image showing damage to the wing root. So it's an uncontained failure, with damage to the aircraft from flying shrapnel.
Look closely. One blade missing, the next one broke in the middle. Reportedly the blade fragments remained contained within the engine. The fairing damage may have been caused by some parts of the nacelle. Maybe not.
Brad Waybright
The more you know, the more you know you don't know.
The only requirement is that the fan blades are retained. The rest of it is not protected. The hole in the side and the damage to the aircraft all come from other bits separating. That bit of the hull though is not pressurised.
Years ago flying JAL NRT to Singapore in a 747. On takeoff one of the engines 'flared', smoked and lost a few small bits out the back, and then you could see the white fire suppression system. They didn't change climb out angle or speed and off we went over the ocean for a few hours. I did like four engines.
