FAA Proposes Additional Inspections For Airbus A320ceo V2500 Engines Following An Uncontained Failure

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will be proposing additional maintenance requirements for certain International Aero Engines (IAE) V2500 models, which power Airbus A320ceo family aircraft, following an uncontained engine failure on an aircraft powered by the engine type.

Additional maintenance requirements

On November 12, the FAA will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the V2522-A5, V2524-A5, V2525-D5, V2527-A5, V2527E-A5, V2527M-A5, V2528-D5, V2530-A5, V2531-E5, and V2533-A5 engines, which power the A320ceo family of aircraft and the McDonnell Douglas MD-90.

However, there are no active MD-90 aircraft that are equipped with the nine engine models, ch-aviation data showed. One MD-90 with such engines will become the Boeing X-66, the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) test frame, which arrived at Boeing’s facilities for modifications in August 2023.

According to the FAA, further analysis of an uncontained engine failure of an IAE V2533-A5 model prompted the proposed airworthiness directive (AD).

The engine failure resulted in high-energy debris penetrating the engine cowling, the FAA noted.

“This proposed AD would require revising the airworthiness limitations section (ALS) of the existing maintenance manual or instructions for continued airworthiness and the existing approved maintenance or inspection program, as applicable, to include new inspections of certain critical rotating parts.”

Affecting over 1,500 engines in the US

The United States-based regulator estimated that 1,514 engines in the US would be affected by the directive, which should be effective sometime in 2025.

Globally, ch-aviation data showed that there are 2,833 A320ceo family aircraft with the nine engine models that are active, in maintenance, or stored. 2,418 of those are currently actively flying commercial flights, according to the site.

Currently, the FAA is inviting stakeholders, including airlines, maintenance organizations, and other potential parties, to comment on the NPRM until December 27.

“The FAA is issuing this AD to prevent failure of the HPT 1st-stage hub and HPT 2nd-stage hub. The unsafe condition, if not addressed, could result in an uncontained hub failure, release of high-energy debris, damage to the engine, damage to the airplane, and loss of the airplane.”

Operators of A320ceo family aircraft will have to revise the ‘Maintenance Scheduling’ paragraph of the ALS of the existing approved engine maintenance manual (EMM) or instructions for continued airworthiness and existing approved maintenance or inspection program.

Compliance costs should be low, with the FAA estimating an $85 expense to revise the ALS, which should take up to one working hour.

Culminating in Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engine inspections

The latest NPRM will become the newest directive in a long string of ADs that have resulted in Pratt & Whitney recalling hundreds of PW1100G engines, also known as the Geared Turbofan (GTF).

Pratt & Whitney joined forces with Japanese Aero Engines Corporation – a conglomerate of several Japanese aerospace manufacturers – and MTU Aero Engines to establish IAE.

Nevertheless, troubles with the IAE V2500 began on March 18, 2020, when an A321ceo, equipped with two IAE V2533-A5 engines, had an uncontained high-pressure turbine (HPT) 1st-stage disk failure resulting in high-energy debris penetrating the engine cowling.

Three days later, the FAA issued an emergency directive mandating operators to remove certain HPT 1st-stage disks from service.

In September 2021, the FAA adopted an AD that now mandated HPT 1st-stage and 2nd-stage disk removals for the PW1100G engines.

“Pratt & Whitney (PW) determined that the failure of the V2533-A5 model turbofan engine was due to an undetected subsurface material defect in an HPT disk that may affect the life of the part. In June 2021, PW expanded its root cause analysis to include a review of records for all other IAE and PW engines that contain parts of similar material.”

In October 2022, the FAA said that Pratt & Whitney came across another subpopulation of HPT 1st-stage and 2nd-stage disks potentially impacted by the same material anomalies, mandating an ultrasonic inspection (USI) of the two HPT disks.

Depending on the results, operators had to replace one or both of the disks, with that directive potentially affecting 189 engines in the US.

Everything culminated in August 2023. The FAA issued another AD, saying that following a PW1100G engine failure on an A320neo in December 2022, which resulted in the high-pressure compressor (HPC) integrally bladed rotor (IBR-7) separating and prompting the pilots to abort their takeoff, Pratt & Whitney conducted another records check.

As a result, the aircraft engine manufacturer told airlines to accelerate their USIs of HPT 1st-stage and HPT 2nd-stage disk hubs, which were deemed susceptible to failure much earlier than previously determined, with the earlier determination serving as the basis for the October 2022 AD.

The latter directive has resulted in many airlines having to ground their PW1100G-powered A320neo family aircraft, with the engines’ long turnaround times (TAT) at maintenance shops leaving carriers with few alternatives to sustain their capacity, one of which has been wet leasing aircraft.

Progressing with removals and inspections

During RTX’s Q3 earnings call on October 22, Christopher Calio, the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, said that the engine manufactured remained on track with its PW1100G fleet management plan.

In September 2023, RTX said that around 600 to 700 engines will be removed for shop visits between 2023 and 2026 – and beyond – with the majority of incremental removals being in 2023 and early 2024.

Nevertheless, Calio said that at the end of Q3 2024, inspections of powdered metal parts have continued according to plan. The associated fallout rate remained below the 1% expectation, with the findings being consistent with its fleet plan.

“At our MRO facilities, throughput of engines is improving. PW1100 output increased 10% sequentially and 27% on a year-over-year basis. The team is utilizing core practices to optimize the inspection sequence and implement concurrent assembly operations in our MRO facilities.”

Ch-aviation identified 623 A319neo, A320neo, and A321neo PW1100G-powered aircraft that are currently stored or in maintenance. In comparison, the site indicated that 1,044 A320neo family jets with GTF engines are actively flying.