The Federal Aviation
Administration has proposed mandatory inspections of hundreds of Pratt
& Whitney’s smaller turboprop engines to check for flaws that
include broken turbine blades and perforations in casings that might
lead to “uncontained failure,” the agency says.
The repairs could
cost nearly $2 million overall for engines in use in the U.S., the FAA
says in an advisory published Tuesday. The FAA estimates that its
proposed repair order — known as an Airworthiness Directive — involves
1,000 engines on planes registered in the U.S.
The propeller
engines are built at Pratt & Whitney Canada, in Longueuil, Quebec.
They power a variety of smaller aircraft ranging from general aviation
planes made by Beechcraft and Piper, to larger propeller planes built by
Bombardier and other manufacturers.
Source: http://www.journalinquirer.com