Airworthiness Directives; General Electric Company (GE) Turbofan Engines
We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all GE CF6-80C2 model turbofan engines, including engines marked on the engine data plate as CF6-80C2B7F1. This AD was prompted by a report of a supplier shipping a batch of nonconforming No. 3 bearing packings that had incorrect cooling holes and by subsequent reports of nonconforming No. 3 bearing packings being installed on engines in service. This AD requires a one-time inspection of the No. 3 bearing packing for an incorrect cooling hole size and, if it is found nonconforming, removing the packing and removing certain engine rotating life-limited parts (LLPs), if they were operated with unacceptable rotor bore cooling flow for a specified number of cycles. We are issuing this AD to prevent an uncontained failure of the high-pressure compressor (HPC) rotor or the low-pressure turbine (LPT) rotor, or both, which could cause damage to the airplane.