Unsafe to fly?
Dozens of passenger jets using Heathrow have a potentially fatal engine flaw, creating a “high probability” of another failure like the one that caused last year’s British Airways crash, according to the American air safety watchdog.
Rolls-Royce, which makes the engines, is working on a safety modification but the Boeing 777s will remain in service with the flaw for another 18 months.
Until the change is made, more than 220 Boeing 777s with Rolls-Royce engines, including 15 operated by BA, will continue to be vulnerable to ice in the fuel supply causing a loss of power in the engines.
Read more about this at The Times.
Scary stuff, not what one wants to read. Hopefully the ones operated by Air NZ are not powered by Rolls Royce.
Why are these planes not grounded? Are they unsafe to fly?
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Nothing like as bad as it sounds, the icing requires abnormally cold temperatures for a prolonged period to occur. The flight in question flew across central asia through temperatures at -76 degrees for a significant time, which is very unusual. There is, I believe, a warning out on the issue, and flights encountering such conditions are supposed to reduce altitude to increase the temperature of the fuel. Compliance is a different issue. Boeing 777′s have generally a very good safety record.