THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 15, 1994 TAG: 9410150204
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
The Air Force and Navy are replacing or repairing about 160 engines on four kinds of jets, officials confirmed Friday, because a faulty turbine rotating seal was linked to two engine failures in Europe.
Seven of the affected engines were aboard the aircraft carrier George Washington, either in F-14s or as spares. Navy officials said all seven engines have been replaced with other spare engines onboard.
A handful of the engines are in F-14s elsewhere in the fleet but none are deployed, the Navy said. Those engines also are being replaced or already have been.
Jet engines are regularly removed and replaced for maintenance. The Navy said the job takes about four hours on each F-14. None of the engines on the George Washington's aircraft had malfunctioned.
The George Washington and its 80 combat planes are to arrive in the northern Persian Gulf today; they were dispatched this week from the Adriatic Sea to counter the movement of Iraqi forces toward the Kuwait border.
The engines involved are part of the F-110 series made by General Electric, but only those that have logged less than 350 operating hours are affected. The turbine rotating seals help direct the flow of air through the engine.
The Air Force uses the F-110 engine in F-16s and a similar engine in the B-1 and B-2 bombers. Officials said the Air Force has grounded all planes equipped with the affected engines and has distributed replacement engines for F-16s that it is deploying around the Persian Gulf.
GE also has recommended that U.S. allies, which own about 200 of the engines for their F-16s, take those planes out of service until the seals can be replaced. The company said F-110 engines have accumulated more than 1.2 million flight hours with ``an outstanding safety record.''
KEYWORDS: JET ENGINE AIRPLANE MAINTENANCE by CNB