The aircraft engine giant, CFM International, is said to be monitoring closely its LEAP engines following a build up issue said to be behind the engine failure on a Boeing 737 Max 8 of US budget carrier, Southwest Airlines on 26th March.
CFM has told operators to inspect the LEAP-1A and -1B engines looking for a build-up of carbon or other materials on fuel nozzles. This build-up, often called coking, could cause hot-spots and premature wear which could cause a failure in the turbine blades. Its believed it was this that caused the engine failure Southwest jet on a ferry flight to Victorville for storage from Orlando.
Air Transport World reports that a spokesperson for the company said, “CFM continually monitors the fleet and we have a method to detect carbon build-up, enabling CFM and our customers to proactively manage the issue,” a GE spokesperson said. “In the case of the engine on flight 8701, we learned from the event that our monitoring analytic and maintenance process needed to be adjusted for our LEAP engines. This adjustment has been made and the fleet was assessed within hours, with follow-on actions completed within days.”
Southwest inspected 12 engines and handed over its findings to CFM for analysis, a task made easier as the 737 max remain grounded following the two fatal or 737 Max aircraft of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines.
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