The Federal Aviation Administration has recently ordered changes on certain Boeing engines installed on a number of 787 Dreamliners due to icing or freezing issues which could cause such engines to stop working while in flight.
This FAA directive was issued as a response of the agency to an accident that happened on January 29 on a 787 Dreamliner when it was flying at approximately 20,000 feet.
The accident happened on a Japan Airlines airplane when one its engine suddenly stopped and which couldn't be restarted. It was flying from Vancouver, B.C. carrying 166 people en route to the Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan. The plane was still about 90 miles from its destination when the engine stopped working.
"Ice shed from the fan blades ... causing the blades to rub against the fan case, resulting in engine vibration," said Rick Kennedy, GE Aviation spokesman in an interview with CNN.
That condition forced the engine to completely shut off. Fortunately, the pilot was able to land the plane safely with its other engine.
"Susceptibility to heavy fan blade rubs, if not corrected, could result in engine damage and a possible in-flight non-restartable power loss of one or both engines," said an FAA document.
All air carriers will be affected by this FAA directive just as long as they have 787 Dreamliners in their fleet. Currently, there are about 176 Dreamliners being flown by 29 airline companies across the globe. This is about 44 percent of the world's air fleet.
Boeing's most advanced plane today is the Dreamliner being made largely of super strong light-weight carbon-fiber reinforced plastic instead of the usual aluminum. That makes this airplane model very expensive.
And yet, according to the FAA document: "The potential for common cause failure of both engines in flight is an urgent safety issue."
Therefore, in some cases, some of these planes need to be grounded, although the agency said they are coordinating their efforts with the airline companies to minimize disruptions in their operations.
