The United States (US) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will publish an Airworthiness Directive (AD) to prevent potential failures of the CFM International LEAP-1B engines when running engine anti-ice (EAI) systems in dry air.
To avoid probable failures of the CFM International LEAP-1B engines when operating engine anti-ice (EAI) systems in dry air, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will release an Airworthiness Directive (AD).
The FAA states that a report from June 2023 that stated using the EAI system in dry air "for more than five minutes during certain environmental and operational conditions can cause overheating of the engine inlet inner barrel beyond the material design limit, resulting in failure of the engine inlet inner barrel and severe engine inlet cowl damage" was the reason behind the AD.
The incident took place during flight testing and analysis, and it was found that using the EAI system in dry air for longer than five minutes at "certain combinations of altitude, total air temperature, and N1 settings can result in engine inlet cowl temperatures exceeding design limits when not in visible moisture" (unpublished data).
The engine's intake inner barrel may then overheat over the intended limits as a result of the excessive heat accumulation, which might lead to inlet inner barrel failure and subsequent inlet cowl damage in the LEAP-1B.
Because of this, the directive mandates that airlines using CFM International LEAP-1B engines limit the use of EAI in their current airplane flight manuals (AFM) and amend the minimum equipment list (MEL) to "prohibit" the use of EAI.
No in-service failures
The FAA pointed out that the problem hasn't been linked to any in-service breakdowns, though.
But if it is not fixed, it can cause "departure of the inlet and potential fan cowl failure and departure from the airplane," according to the warning. The aircraft's windows or fuselage could subsequently sustain damage, "possibly leading to decompression and hazard to window-seated passengers aft of the wing and/or impact damage to the wing, flight control surfaces and/or empennage, which could result in loss of control of the airplane."
Another risk is that the aircraft may run out of fuel as a result of the increased aerodynamic drag and asymmetric lift following the removal of the inlet, "resulting in an emergency off-airport landing and injury." to passengers
Only the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft series, which includes the 737 MAX-7, MAX-8, MAX-8200, MAX-9, and MAX-10, are powered by CFM International LEAP-1B engines.
The FAA estimates that the AD will have an impact on 402 US-registered aircraft, with the cost of compliance with the directive being $85 per aircraft as it simply calls for an adjustment to the AFM/MEL. Although CFM International is "currently developing a modification that will address the unsafe condition identified in this AD," the regulator noted that the current AD is only temporary.
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