Imagine the widespread panic if civilian airliners ever suffered turbine blade failures.
Analysis
Modern jet engines are extremely reliable, and in-service failures are rare. This reliability is the basis of the extended range twin-engine operations (ETOPS) approval. When two engines on the same aircraft fail for the same mechanical reasons in such a short time, this reliability is brought into question. In this case, both engine failures were the result of stress corrosion cracking of the second-stage turbine blades, a failure mode that Pratt & Whitney has been actively trying to control through the use of sacrificial corrosion protection coatings. The focus of this investigation analysis was to identify the underlying causes of these two engine failures...