NONE · BOEING 777 222 · 2018-02-13 · Honolulu, HI, USA
Event
NTSB number
DCA18IA092
Event ID
20180213X95634
Type
Incident
Date
2018-02-13
Location
Honolulu, HI, USA
Coordinates
21.317777, -157.920272
Injuries
Highest injury
NONE
Fatal
0
Serious
0
Minor
0
Uninjured
378
Total aboard
378
Aircraft
Make
BOEING
Model
777 222
Registration
N773UA
FAR Part
121
Engines
2
Damage
MINR
Conditions
Light
DAYL
Weather
VMC
Probable cause
the fracture of a fan blade due to P&W's continued classification of the TAI inspection process as a new and emerging technology that permitted them to continue accomplishing the inspection without having to develop a formal, defined initial and recurrent training program or an inspector certification program. The lack of training resulted in the inspector making an incorrect evaluation of an indication that resulted in a blade with a crack being returned to service where it eventually fractured. Contributing to the fracture of the fan blade was the lack of feedback from the process engineers on the fan blades the inspectors sent to the process engineers for evaluation of indications that they had found.