Update on Aug. 13:
A failed accessory gearbox created issues with a GE-built engine on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner during a recent international flight.
The failed gearbox caused the oil pressure warning light to turn on - and the pilot decided to turn the engine off rather than to risk running out of oil, according to GE Aviation spokesman Rick Kennedy.
“The gearbox has since been replaced and the engine is back in service,” Kennedy said. “GE Aviation is investigating why there was a failure in the accessory gearbox.”
The Federal Aviation Administration will not be investigating into the incident since Thomson Airways is a foreign air carrier, the agency said in a statement.
Aerospace analyst Saj Ahmad with StrategicAero Research said engine oil pressure issues “are quite common and not at all serious.”
“There is nothing that happened on this 787 that hasn’t and doesn’t happen on a regular basis to any other airplane,” Ahmad said.
Uresh Sheth of the blog All Things 787 said he doesn't anticipate any investigations outside of GE's internal one since the engines are sold separately from the airframe.
"If there was as a history of engine failures then I would think it would trigger an investigation like the battery issue, but I don't know of any consistent engine failure history that would warrant it," Sheth said. "There will be an investigation as to why this particular engine failed and then any corrective action would be taken depending on the findings."
Original story from Aug. 12:
A pilot shut down an engine on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner over the Atlantic Ocean with 288 passengers on board on Aug. 5, according to an airline spokeswoman.
U.K.-based Thomson Airways flight TOM157 was traveling from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, to Manchester, England, when its engine experienced a technical issue nearly two hours into the 9 1/2-hour flight.
After the pilot made the decision to shut down one of the two engines, the plane lost altitude at 500 feet per minute, according to passengers who spoke to the Daily Mail.
The pilot landed at the Lajes airport in the Azores several hours later "as a precautionary measure," Thomson Airways spokeswoman Sophie Deans said in an emailed statement.
"The engine did not fail. The aircraft experienced a technical issue and the captain took the decision to shut down the impacted engine and divert to Lajes airport in the Azores."
The two-engine jet is designed to complete a full flight to a runway on a single engine. Dreamliner customers can choose between GEnx-1B engines or Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.
General Electric Co. built the engines used on the plane in the incident; it is one of six Dreamliners that Thomson Airways owns. Thomson Airways was Boeing's launch customer in the U.K.
The 787 Dreamliners are built in North Charleston at Boeing South Carolina and in Everett, Wash. This is the first engine issue for an in-service 787 Dreamliner, though some problems occurred during testing of the engine.
During one test of the GEnx-1B engine in 2012 at Boeing South Carolina, some metal debris was ejected from the back of the engine, according to Wired. Initial inspections blamed failure of a shaft in the engine. The 787 Dreamliner has also had problems with its lithium-ion batteries that resulted in the grounding of the fleet for several months. The Federal Aviation Administration has since deemed the Boeing 787 safe.
Thomson Airways did not respond to questions about whether they will seek testing on their 787 fleet. Neither Boeing nor GE has provided an explanation for the technical issues.
The passengers on the flight sat on the runway for several hours after landing because of overcrowding at the airport. They eventually boarded a replacement aircraft that took them to England.
"The safety of our customers and crew is of paramount importance and we would like to apologize for the delay experienced," Deans said.
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