The FAA issued final paperwork clearing the return to service of 52 Pratt & Whitney-powered Boeing 777-200s operated by United Airlines, ending a grounding that has constrained the carrier’s widebody capacity over the last fifteen months.
Boeing is developing a series of nacelle improvements for grounded Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered 777s and wants FAA’s blessing to phase them in as they are finalized, instead of delivering a complete, compliant nacelle structure as required by the agency’s certification rules.
The global fleet of 128 Boeing 777s with PW4000s has been grounded since late February following a failure onboard a United 777 near Denver—the third PW4000-pow
United Airlines said Pratt & Whitney, the FAA and other stakeholders are making progress on getting Pratt PW4000-series engines back in service but declined to say when its affected 777s will return.
U.S. NTSB investigators determined metal fatigue is suspected as the reason a fan blade fractured just before an in-fight engine failure suffered by United Airl
Global regulators and operators moved quickly to minimize the risk of another incident involving a Pratt & Whitney-powered Boeing 777, banning them from airspac
Japanese and South Korean carriers have suspended operations of Boeing 777s powered by Pratt & Whitney 4000 series engines, although the limited numbers of these flying mean there have been few schedule disruptions.
