Singapore AAIB released an
interim statement (pdf)
AAIB:
3. The investigation is still in the preliminary stage. These are the key findings so
far:
• Fuel was found present in the oil system of the right engine, which is not a
normal condition. Investigators have determined that fuel entered the oil
system as a result of a crack in a tube in the engine’s main fuel oil heat
exchanger (MFOHE).
• GE Aviation had issued a Service Bulletin (SB) in December 2014 identifying
certain MFOHEs to be removed from the engines, inspected for cracks in the
fuel tubes, and for repair actions and improvement works to be undertaken.
GE Aviation had recommended that the actions called for by the SB be
carried out no later than the next occasion when the engine is sent for
maintenance work in an engine shop.
• The engine of flight SQ368 which had caught fire had last undergone an
engine shop visit in March 2014, just before the SB was issued.
4. The AAIB has issued interim safety recommendations to the following parties:
• GE Aviation, as the engine manufacturer and holder of the engine type
certificate, to review the need to accelerate the implementation of the
recommendations in its main fuel oil heat exchanger Service Bulletin of
December 2014, to prevent another fire or other hazardous incident from
arising as a result of fuel leakage into the engine oil system.
The information provided herein is of an interim nature. Readers are
advised that new information may become available that may alter this
interim statement prior to the publication of the Final report
• The Boeing Company, as the aircraft manufacturer, to review the need for
operational procedures in the event a flight crew encounters a similar fuel
leak situation in flight.
• US Federal Aviation Administration
o to require the Boeing Company to review the need for operational
procedures in the event a flight crew encounters a similar fuel leak
situation in flight; and
o to require GE Aviation to review the need to accelerate the implementation
of the recommendations in its main fuel oil heat exchanger Service
Bulletin of December 2014.