View Full Version : Dropping Engines
morroccomole
20th Apr 2001, 18:30
I hear today that a Ryanair 737-800 engine has been dropped onto the ground at STN. The gang that it happened to are the same guys who dropped one last month. A failed winch is being cited by FLS as the cause. The kit being used belonged to Ryanair. Needless to say, Ryan have taken the winch away for investigation.
balti king
21st Apr 2001, 00:14
Britannia too had an engine dropping incident very recently. A bootstrap operation in the hangar using lifting equipment they shouldn't have. I believe a winch slipped into neutral. One engineer came very close to being seriously injured/killed. Don't know much more about it as I wasn't involved.
spannersatcx
21st Apr 2001, 00:29
I literally dropped an RB211 off of a 747-400 (no injuries except to pride) everything was being done to the book as it was 1st eng removal at a new facility (I had done them before) all equipment was new, guess what, the manufacturer of the equipment had fitted a 737 rated gearbox to the winching gear, guess what, it gave way and engine hit the floor from about 6 ft. How does that saying go, it happened before and it will happen again! So much for quality control!
Bus429
21st Apr 2001, 17:13
Happened to Air 2K in the Spotty M hangar in MAN a few months ago.
BTW, have a look at Full and Free in "Rumours & News".
Spanners, how are you doing?
gas path
21st Apr 2001, 18:25
We withdrew all the winches that had either a neutral position and/or a handwheel because of this defect some time ago.
Thank goodness for Mr. Morgan Mr. Cobra and overhead cranes :)
Spanners, This new facility wouldnt be in wales would it? If it was I remember watching the incident, if it wasn't it's another RB211 off of a 747-400 to hit the floor.
spannersatcx
21st Apr 2001, 19:53
wafu, maybe!
Bus429, Ok, how's things over there, bit warmer than back here, I bet.
avmech
22nd Apr 2001, 04:14
I have seen this happen once already. The bootstrap equip for the CFM56-7 is crap. It seems that the fittings that attach to the engine are handed, and the left side will easily attach to the right but not the other way around. As a consequence of this, trying to reverse these fittings results in stretching and eventualy breaking the attach bolts (only 10-32's). On the plus side these -7 engines can be replaced in under 8 hours complete. Compared to the -3, that's quite an improvement provided the tooling doesn't fail!