Trouble is, the engine wasn’t designed to fail in the first place - a fact you seem to be overlooking.
The fact that two engines failed at the same time on the same aircraft - an event that is almost never ever heard of; and the fact that this has happened two or three times is alarming. No matter how you try to dress this up, the reality is that at certain density altitudes at certain temperatures and at certain speeds when the meteorological conditions are exactly right, these engines might fail, as has been shown on no less than two (and possibly three) occasions, as last year QR suffered a flame out in Shanghi on an A332 with CF6-80E1’s installed.
Sure, let’s divert attention to Rolls-Royce. I’d gladly discuss the problems - 15 aircraft were grounded for 3 days (as a precaution) due to three shutdowns relating to problems with a French made gearbox, which was resolved 10 years ago.
However, a quick search of Google entering Rolls-Royce engine problems and General Electric engine problems shows instantly worrying problems regarding GE engines.
The same GE engine series have had similar problems on Boeing aircraft, and other GE series have had similar problems on the CRJ. Remember the problems 10 years ago with CF-6 series engines ripping themselves apart? A bit more concerning than a gear box failure.
It is also safe to say that the airframe manufacturer does not seem to be the common link here.
If you ask me, P&W and RR make far more reliable engines than GE.
That being said, GE engines (as with all models from each manufacturer) are still highly reliable power plants and the rate of failure is still extremely low.
Prob -
Good point. The engine is not designed to fail. I’m not sure how you think I’m overlooking that fact. But as with all the systems on the a/c, their design incorporates back-systems to activate if failures occur. This is what happened when the flame-outs occurred.
Pointing this out is certainly not “trying to dress-up” any perceived short-coming with this engine.
Can you show me any ASB’s, other than what I linked to, on this engine dealing with this ‘problem’? Seriously, do you know of anything coming from GE or the FAA on this?
If you can provide this I’d like to forward it along to some folks.
And by the way, interesting that you would phrase my efforts at providing additional info on this a/c and its engines by saying that I’m trying to "…divert attention to Rolls-Royce. ". What I was attempting to do is show a more complete picture of incidents with this a/c and its engines. Rolls-Royce engines have proven to be a fine choice for a/c for many decades. The Trent series alone is a classic.
As to who makes the best engines…I can’t answer that question. GE, RR, CFM, P&W…they all have their traits and preferred applications. The a/c designers make their choices, not me.
And as you say…with the ever changing technology all of the failure rates are extremely low. Thankfully.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]There is one NTSB ‘Safety Recommendation’ from Aug 2000, and it has nothing to do with this problem. Need the ASB?
Here ya go…cryptome.org/ge-failures.htm…got anything relevant?[/quote]
I think it’s for you to explain how a document from 2000 is relevant to a problem discovered in 2006.
Easy…Cathay. They even know that a Pink Gin is.[/quote]
And you might thanks me for that one. I’ve taught it to them on numerous occasions. Complete with diagrams and phonetics spellings of Angostura Bitters. “Just 3 - 4 drops dear is all you need…now see how that matches your scarf…delightful!”
Cheers!