Any Experts on Exploded Pratt Jet Engine Here ?

[MegaWattz]

That was no mere compressor failure, the engine just
totally EXPLODED. You would have expected lots of
shards from a turbine coming apart, but this was
something different. I didn't notice any shred marks
on the pieces of metal the press photographed
either.

MY guess, hot fuel vapor managed to accumulate
between the engine body and the cowling, until
the concentration was enough to light off. Is this
possible with that engine, a leak just before the
combustor baskets, or maybe a pinhole in the
casing between the inner works and the cowling ?

These are things I wonder about while having to
watch a Ricky Schoeder version of "Journey to
the center of the earth" ........ oh geez, Peter
Fonda as the heavy ......... ?

Meanwhile, all 777's are GROUNDED. Not a very
good year for Boeing - although the engines are
Not Their Fault.

I see the 777 was originally envisioned as a "Big
727" - a TRI-Jet with a third smaller engine in the
tail. Maybe they should have stuck with that ...
having only two engines in something that will
fly to Hawaii does not inspire maximum confidence.
How far COULD the thing have flown at near full
load with only one engine ???

[M I Wakefield]

Post by MegaWattz
That was no mere compressor failure, the engine just
totally EXPLODED. You would have expected lots of
shards from a turbine coming apart, but this was
something different. I didn't notice any shred marks
on the pieces of metal the press photographed
either.
MY guess, hot fuel vapor managed to accumulate
between the engine body and the cowling, until
the concentration was enough to light off. Is this
possible with that engine, a leak just before the
combustor baskets, or maybe a pinhole in the
casing between the inner works and the cowling ?
These are things I wonder about while having to
watch a Ricky Schoeder version of "Journey to
the center of the earth" ........ oh geez, Peter
Fonda as the heavy ......... ?
Meanwhile, all 777's are GROUNDED. Not a very
good year for Boeing - although the engines are
Not Their Fault.

The Pratt & Whitney 4000 engines are grounded — 777's powered by GE or
Rolls Royce are still flying.

Post by MegaWattz
I see the 777 was originally envisioned as a "Big
727" - a TRI-Jet with a third smaller engine in the
tail. Maybe they should have stuck with that ...
having only two engines in something that will
fly to Hawaii does not inspire maximum confidence.
How far COULD the thing have flown at near full
load with only one engine ???

All 777 models are rated to fly routes that take them as much as 3
hours from any airport, with some models rated up to 5.5 hours.

The longest actual diversion I could find was just over 3 hours:

https://scholar.smu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1305&context=jalc

[Winston_Smith]

Post by MegaWattz
having only two engines in something that will
fly to Hawaii does not inspire maximum confidence.
How far COULD the thing have flown at near full
load with only one engine ???

If memory servers - this is deep memory of a news report from the 50s
or 60s and needs verification - a jet made it back from half way there
with three of it's four engines out.

Apparently if you fly very, very low you get sort of a reflection from
the ground which helps your limited lift. That of course is a problem
between the ocean and the inland airport.

Needing more verification, I sort of remember it being the only time a
plane was authorized to fly UNDER the Golden Gate Bridge.

[Duke]

Post by MegaWattz
MY guess, hot fuel vapor managed to accumulate
between the engine body and the cowling, until
the concentration was enough to light off. Is this
possible with that engine, a leak just before the
combustor baskets, or maybe a pinhole in the
casing between the inner works and the cowling ?
These are things I wonder about while having to
watch a Ricky Schoeder version of "Journey to
the center of the earth" ........ oh geez, Peter
Fonda as the heavy ......... ?

Is the movie actually worse than the 1959 version with Pat Boone? That
would be quite a feat.

The review here should serve as a warning:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107279/

As per the exploded Prat and Whitney jet engine, my understanding is
that airlines headquartered in Denver outsource their aircraft
maintenance to an outfit in Central America. (Guatemala, IIRC). It
doesn't inspire confidence in the quality of the maintenance workers.
When I lived in the Panama Canal Zone long ago, when we flew on DC-6
aircraft under the Avianca brand, when the plane stopped for refueling
in Tegucigalpa, the Panamanian pilots would drink martinis in the
airport lounge while the plane was fueled up.

As an aside, I was in the dog park in Broomfield, CO with my dog when
the engine exploded overhead. Having not been looking at the plane when
the engine initially exploded, I wondered it the plane had been the
target of a Stinger missile. The pilot and the DIA control tower people
deserve far more recognition for their professionalism and performance
under pressure than some overpaid athletes who are held up as "heroes"
by our decadent culture.

Thank you for your on topic, intelligent post.
--
"Build Back Better" means Destroy More Quickly.

America is disintegrating in real time before our very eyes and the
world knows it. The only ones who aren’t aware of this are the woke
white leftists who are too obsessed with destroying Trump supporters to
notice that they overshot their target and instead destroyed the country.

“All truth passes through three phases. First, it is ridiculed. Second,
it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self evident.” -
Arthur Schopenhauer

https://www.globalgulag.us

[Winston_Smith]

Post by Duke
my understanding is
that airlines headquartered in Denver outsource their aircraft
maintenance to an outfit in Central America. (Guatemala, IIRC). It
doesn't inspire confidence in the quality of the maintenance workers.

With luck, some of them are in one of the caravans and will continue
their work as American citizens with "good paying union jobs".

Post by Duke
When I lived in the Panama Canal Zone long ago, when we flew on DC-6
aircraft under the Avianca brand, when the plane stopped for refueling
in Tegucigalpa, the Panamanian pilots would drink martinis in the
airport lounge while the plane was fueled up.

If you have just survived a brush with death and you know you will
have to get back in that seat at the front of a deathtrap with wings
and fly over rugged and inhospitable terrain yet once more -- well, I
can understand some desire to dull your thinking process. A few belts
brings out the bravado in some people.

Post by Duke
Thank you for your on topic, intelligent post.

I just balanced his out.

[Duke]

Post by Winston_Smith

Post by Duke
my understanding is
that airlines headquartered in Denver outsource their aircraft
maintenance to an outfit in Central America. (Guatemala, IIRC). It
doesn't inspire confidence in the quality of the maintenance workers.

With luck, some of them are in one of the caravans and will continue
their work as American citizens with "good paying union jobs".

Post by Duke
When I lived in the Panama Canal Zone long ago, when we flew on DC-6
aircraft under the Avianca brand, when the plane stopped for refueling
in Tegucigalpa, the Panamanian pilots would drink martinis in the
airport lounge while the plane was fueled up.

If you have just survived a brush with death and you know you will
have to get back in that seat at the front of a deathtrap with wings
and fly over rugged and inhospitable terrain yet once more -- well, I
can understand some desire to dull your thinking process. A few belts
brings out the bravado in some people.

Avianca had a very good safety record, despite their cocktail hour when
they refueled. Drinking on the job, like tobacco smoking, was "the old
normal" back in the '50s. I think the decline in journalism and a few
other professions goes hand in hand with the tobacco free workplace.
Those old news anchors like Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Chet
Huntley and Dave Brinkley smoke like chimneys. (I went in a TWA
Constellation that's now a lounge / bar at JFK Airport and noticed the
ash trays not only in the passenger area, but for the pilots as well.)

Post by Winston_Smith

Post by Duke
Thank you for your on topic, intelligent post.

I just balanced his out.

--
"Build Back Better" means Destroy More Quickly.

America is disintegrating in real time before our very eyes and the
world knows it. The only ones who aren’t aware of this are the woke
white leftists who are too obsessed with destroying Trump supporters to
notice that they overshot their target and instead destroyed the country.

“All truth passes through three phases. First, it is ridiculed. Second,
it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self evident.” -
Arthur Schopenhauer

https://www.globalgulag.us

[Winston_Smith]

Post by MegaWattz
That was no mere compressor failure, the engine just
totally EXPLODED. You would have expected lots of
shards from a turbine coming apart, but this was
something different.

https://nypost.com/2021/02/23/damage-to-boeing-777-fan-consistent-with-metal-fatigue-ntsb/
The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said a
preliminary assessment has revealed that damage to a fan blade in the
engine that failed on a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 is consistent
with metal fatigue.
...
He said it was unclear whether the mishap is consistent with an engine
failure on another Hawaii-bound United flight in February 2018 that
was attributed to a fatigue fracture in a fan blade.