Japan Airlines engine problems caused by improper repair method

Airline Industry Information, Nov 12, 2004

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

An engine problem in Japan Airlines' fleet of McDonnell Douglas aircraft in January 2004 which caused the cancellation of 600 flights has been put down to an error in a repair manual supplied by the engine's manufacturer Pratt & Whitney.

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the finding after an investigation by Pratt & Whitney found that repairing cracks found in the engines of Japan Airlines' MD-81 and MD-87 aircraft by using nickel alloy to wax into the cracks on the engine's stator vanes was not appropriate.

Repairs on the engine had been outsourced to a Pratt & Whitney subsidiary in Singapore in 1999 but it had carried out the fix even on aircraft engines that did not require repairs. The US Federal Aviation Administration has already ordered the manual recommending the repair to be corrected.

Japan Airlines has been ordered by the Japanese authorities to replace all the stator vanes that were repaired, reports Kyodo News.

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