26-July-2020

The Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) safety regulators have now issued an emergency order director airplanes to inspect all boeing 737 critical engine part, which has been parked up during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Any airline has now been issued to inspect any Boeing 737 twin-engine jets, Classic and Next Generation planes, which has been parked up for at least seven days or flown fewer than 11 times since being returned to service.

The FAA has ordered this because of the corrosion of the engine bleed air 5th stage check valve internal parts during airplane storage may cause engine valves to become stuck in the open position, if this valve opens normally at takeoff power, it may become stuck in open position during the flight and fail to close when the power is reduced at top of descent, resulting in an unrecoverable compressor stall and the inability to restart the engine. It also could lead to a dual-engine failure.

While losing one engine in mid flight is a serious emergency, it can happen from time to time. However this issue could potentially affect both engines, causing a much more serious dual engine shutdown. The FAA determined a similar condition is likely to present itself in other aircraft.

Inspectors found compromised air check valve when bringing aircraft out of storage following four recent reports of single-engine shutdowns on planes that have been parked, prompting the directive for aircraft not operated for seven or more straight days.

Alaska Airlines said one of its aircrafts is likely one of the four incidents, noting a recent engine shutdown issue. Alaska Airlines said “The safety of the flight was not compromised and is now checking the values before returning planes to service.”

Boeing Co said on Friday it had advised operators to inspect the planes and added “with airplanes being stored or used infrequently due to lower demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, the valve can be more susceptible to corrosion.” Boeing also said it’s providing inspection and replacement information to fleet owners if they find an issue.