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Japan Airlines retires all PW4000-powered B777s

JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda) has joined ANA - All Nippon Airways in retiring its fleet of PW4000-powered B777s in the wake of a February 20, 2021, incident in which United Airlines B777-200 N772UA (msn 26930) suffered an uncontained engine failure.

In a statement, JAL said that in light of the uncertainty of when the variant would be allowed to fly again, coupled with the added uncertainty of the COVID-19 market environment, it had decided to accelerate the jets' retirement to March 31 against the originally planned March 2022 date.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, JAL had nine B777-200s (powered by PW4084s) and four B777-300s (powered by PW4090s) in storage as of late February when they were grounded.

JAL said it would partially replace the B777s with A350-900s on flights out of Okinawa Naha. Despite the move, JAL continues to operate seven B777-200(ER)s and thirteen B777-300(ER)s, all of which are powered by General Electric GE90s.

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Japan, US ground PW-powered B777s after United incident

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will issue an emergency airworthiness directive grounding all B777 widebodies powered by certain Pratt & Whitney engines, following an uncontained engine failure on a United Airlines B777-200 on February 20, 2021.

"After consulting with my team of aviation safety experts about yesterday's engine failure aboard a Boeing 777 airplane in Denver Int'l, I have directed them to issue an Emergency Airworthiness Directive that would require immediate or stepped-up inspections of Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines. This will likely mean that some airplanes will be removed from service," FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said.

The directive has yet to be published as the FAA is still working with operators and manufacturers to finalise the details. Dickson indicated that it would entail shorter inspection intervals "for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes".

In a separate statement, Boeing said it recommended grounding all PW4000-powered B777s pending a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)...

Editorial Comment: The article has been updated regarding operations in South Korea, Egypt, and the United Kingdom. - 22.02.2021 - 15:26 UTC

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