DERG
Engine reliability is not only a critical part of ETOPS, it is life and death. No matter the pronouncements of the EASA re: ADs and compliance, the Manufacturer does have the last word. Now that RollsRoyce has bestowed reliability on the 972, we breathe relief and climb aboard ??
QF32 happened to a four engine ship, and it barely escaped a ditch or crash. Keep in mind that N3 continued past Burst, and fed a fire. The EEC may have had problems similar to Number One. Remember Number One was impossible to shut down, and with sound internals, (until swallowing canal mud), it ran on two hours.
If Number Two hadn't ultimately shut down, the engine fire that resulted may have ignited the sloshing puddles of fuel in the wing. One can imagine easily a more tragic outcome than loss of Face, Money, and RepCred. 1000 is not yet certificated for ETOPS, and the Dreamliner can ill afford more doubts and delays. On top of the mechanical issues, serious enough on their own, the absurd and selfish, dare one say criminal and clumsy attempts at keeping things quiet, puts in question three decades of Twin reliability. I like the 757 ETOPS, but the 737 gives me the willies.
The OIL SYSTEM is no doubt deeply involved in this uncontained failure, but unwinding the true cause is inevitable. Given a clean bill of health at this point would not restore Faith in the Firm, IMO.
The EEC has two channels, each one an independent system that is dormant when the other operates. At ignition, the EEC determines randomly which channel to activate, and which to isolate. With certain parameters extant, the EEC switches channels, and recovers control. The random selection exists to alleviate a dormant fault from being unidentified in one channel, allowing the EEC to operate essentially with only one channel reliability. The EEC was removed from the engine's Fan Cowl before the image was taken, noticeable are the fifteen cables wrapped in plastic bags left on the cowl, and the four mounting towers of the EEC. To me, imo, the actual vibratory environment of this unit's area suggests a rather brave decision. The mounts are snubbed with rubber, missing in the picture.
Last edited by bearfoil; 6th Jan 2011 at 15:44.