The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an airworthiness directive (AD) for the Pratt & Whitney engines that powers the Airbus A220 and Embraer E2 190/95.
Pratt & Whitney PW1000G is a high-bypass geared turbofan engine family, currently selected as the exclusive engine for the A220 and Embraer E2 190/95 with PW1500G and PW1900G correspondingly.
This AD was prompted by corrosion found on the high-pressure compressor (HPC) front hub, which could result in certain HPC front hubs cracking before reaching their published life limit.
This AD requires revisions to the Airworthiness Limitations Section (ALS) of the manufacturer’s Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA) and air carrier’s approved Continued Airworthiness Maintenance Programs (CAMP) to incorporate new or more restrictive airworthiness limitations.
This unsafe condition, if not addressed, could result in the uncontained release of the HPC front hub, causing damages to the engine and consequential damage to the airplane.
FAA estimates that this AD affects 18 engines installed on airplanes of U.S. registry. Currently, Delta Airlines is the only US airline operating the A220 with 22 aircraft.
This directive is valid for all PW1519G, PW1521G, PW1521GA, PW1524G, PW1525G, PW1521G-3, PW1524G-3, PW1525G-3, PW1919G, PW1921G, PW1922G, PW1923G and PW1923G-A. The costs for revising the ALS and CAMP are estimated at $1,530.
This action may be related to the Swiss A220 incident in which the engine suffered a mid-flight shut down. All details here:
Feature Image by Andy’s Travel Blog