The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has called on the United States Federal Aviation Administration to follow in its footsteps and require airlines to install faulty hardware in Airbus A330 engines rather than make it voluntary.
The recommendation follows an ATSB investigation into an incident last year that saw a Malaysia Airlines Airbus bound from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur, diverted to Alice Springs with a malfunctioning left engine.
Inspection of the engine by ATSB identified a fracture that occurs in the engine at high temperature, an event that had been found in 16 incidents around the world in the past four years involving the same engine.
Director of Transport Safety at ATSB, Stuart Macleod said n ew equipment rectifying the fault was now available and its availability was welcomed by the ATSB.
Mr Macleod said service bulletins accompanying the new equipment recommend installation of the new ducts ‘at the operator’s discretion’.
“The ATSB notes fitment of the ducts is not mandatory,” Mr Macleod said.
“We have issued safety recommendations … to the United States Federal Aviation Administration, urging them to take action to maximise the fitment of the improved components,” he said.
“If fleet-wide replacement is implemented, we expect this will address the safety issue.”
Mr Macleod said ATSB was also reminding airline pilots that, when confronted with significantly abnormal indications, the safest course of action on most occasions is to discontinue the flight as soon as possible.
“In such circumstances, crews should give serious consideration to returning and landing the aircraft rather than continuing with the flight,” he said.
The official report into the Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 incident can be accessed on the ATSB website at this PS News link.