Boeing Asks Airlines Worldwide to Ground 777s After Engine Failure Scare

- Boeing has issued an order grounding 128 Boeing 777s to allow for inspection after one of the jets in the series experienced an engine failure on Sunday

- An engine on United Airlines Flight UA328, which had just taken off from Denver headed to Honolulu, caught fire and scattered debris over Colorado

- No injuries or deaths, both in the cabin or on the ground, were reported after the crew executed an emergency landing

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Boeing has suspended operations of at least 128 Boeing 777s powered by Pratt and Whitney 4000-112.

Boeing announced the measured early on Monday, February 22, to allow investigators to find the cause of an engine failure of a United Airlines passenger jet belonging to the fleet that happened on Sunday.

Flight UA328, which was carrying 231 passengers, had just taken off from Denver to Honolulu when one of its engines caught fire, dropping huge debris over Colorado.

"We recommend suspending operations of the 69 in-service and 59 in-storage 777s powered by Pratt and Whitney 4000-112 engines. This will remain in effect until the FAA identifies the appropriate inspection protocol," Boeing said in a statement.

Luckily, the plane returned safely to Denver.

"There are no reported injuries onboard. We are in contact with the FAA, NTSB and local law enforcement. We are voluntarily and temporarily removing 24 Boeing 777 aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney 4000 series engines from our schedule.

We will continue to work closely with regulators to determine any additional steps and expect only a small number of customers to be inconvenienced," United Airlines said in a statement.

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) recommended airlines to step up inspection interval of the hollow engine blades used on Boeing 777s.

"We reviewed all available safety data following the incident. Based on initial information, we concluded that the inspection interval should be stepped up for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 planes," FAA said.

The Sunday incident came hardly two months after Boeing 737 MAX was cleared to fly again after being grounded for about 18 months.

The fleet was grounded in early 2019 following two devastating crashes, Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air, that ended the lives of 346 people.

Suspension of the fleet saw the airline run into losses, a situation that was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic that slammed the breaks on international travel for the better part of 2020.

Features of Boeing 777

In other world news, Briefly.co.za reported that the Austrian Airlines crew went viral with lit #JerusalemaChallenge clip.

Last year thousands of people helped make Master KG and Nomcebo two of South Africa's most popular artists in the world after they started a challenge called the #JerusalemaChallenge with the duo's hit song Jerusalema.

While a lot of time has gone by, the Austrian Airlines cabin crew recently did the challenge and proved it was still as lit as ever.

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Source: Briefly News