Army grounds CH-47 fleet

The Army has grounded the CH-47 fleet after several engine fires. According to a statement, a small number of aircraft equipped with Honeywell T55 engines have suffered engine fires caused by fuel leaks. The cause of the leak has been identified, and a fix is being implemented. The fleet of 400 helicopters has been grounded, but the Army is primarily looking at around 70 aircraft. During routine maintenance, an o-ring was replaced with a new ring that doesn't meet specifications, allowing a fuel leak to develop, leading to a fire. The fires haven't caused any accidents or injuries, but the Army took the step of grounding the fleet out of an abundance of caution.

Aug 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has temporarily grounded its fleet of about 400 Chinook helicopters due to a risk of engine fires, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Tuesday.

Planemaker Boeing Co (BA.N) makes the heavy-lift Chinook helicopters that supports disaster relief operations and medical evacuation. It is used by international defense forces including those of Italy, South Korea and Canada.

www.reuters.com...

originally posted by: Zaphod58
The Army has grounded the CH-47 fleet after several engine fires. According to a statement, a small number of aircraft equipped with Honeywell T55 engines have suffered engine fires caused by fuel leaks. The cause of the leak has been identified, and a fix is being implemented. The fleet of 400 helicopters has been grounded, but the Army is primarily looking at around 70 aircraft. During routine maintenance, an o-ring was replaced with a new ring that doesn't meet specifications, allowing a fuel leak to develop, leading to a fire. The fires haven't caused any accidents or injuries, but the Army took the step of grounding the fleet out of an abundance of caution.

Aug 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has temporarily grounded its fleet of about 400 Chinook helicopters due to a risk of engine fires, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Tuesday.

Planemaker Boeing Co (BA.N) makes the heavy-lift Chinook helicopters that supports disaster relief operations and medical evacuation. It is used by international defense forces including those of Italy, South Korea and Canada.

www.reuters.com...

Damn glad they found it, hate to ask where was the ring made #1, and pardon my ignorance shouldn't there be a record of which ones have which part, or do they not get that detailed? shouldn't they know if all 400 received the new "O" ring when? and if and when they were installed Lastly were any Chinooks sent to Ukraine?

a reply to: putnam6

They do, but like with the recent ejection seat issues, they tend to check either all of them, or a random selection of them to verify that it’s just a specific run of parts, and not something other than what they suspect.

None that I’ve heard of. The problem with sending them western aircraft is that they have to learn to fly and fix them, and that’s normally a pretty steep learning curve to begin with. In a war, it’s much steeper.

a reply to: Zaphod58

The Tali got the good rings. Am glad it was caught though. This was in the face of showing some force in drills as well. US is loseing basic discipline by the day.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: putnam6

They do, but like with the recent ejection seat issues, they tend to check either all of them, or a random selection of them to verify that it’s just a specific run of parts, and not something other than what they suspect.

None that I’ve heard of. The problem with sending them western aircraft is that they have to learn to fly and fix them, and that’s normally a pretty steep learning curve, to begin with. In a war, it’s much steeper.

Makes sense complete sense and it made me check and no it's not in Ukraine at least according to this, but it damn sure is in loads of places. Wonder how long till all are deemed airworthy

a reply to: putnam6

Probably not long. Most of the unaffected ones will return to flight within a couple of days probably. I'd guess most will be flying by next week at the latest. It probably won't take more than a day or two to remove and replace the affected rings, and if it's just the 70 suspected aircraft, that won't be long at all.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
The Army has grounded the CH-47 fleet after several engine fires. According to a statement, a small number of aircraft equipped with Honeywell T55 engines have suffered engine fires caused by fuel leaks. The cause of the leak has been identified, and a fix is being implemented. The fleet of 400 helicopters has been grounded, but the Army is primarily looking at around 70 aircraft. During routine maintenance, an o-ring was replaced with a new ring that doesn't meet specifications, allowing a fuel leak to develop, leading to a fire. The fires haven't caused any accidents or injuries, but the Army took the step of grounding the fleet out of an abundance of caution.

Aug 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has temporarily grounded its fleet of about 400 Chinook helicopters due to a risk of engine fires, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Tuesday.

Planemaker Boeing Co (BA.N) makes the heavy-lift Chinook helicopters that supports disaster relief operations and medical evacuation. It is used by international defense forces including those of Italy, South Korea and Canada.

www.reuters.com...[/fixed.]

Is that the same Honeywell that makes electronics? If so, yeah I would not trust my life to a jet engine produced by them. Also, it's pronounced moneywell when you're trying to fix them.

a reply to: Jeremiah33three

They make a lot of the helicopter engines.

a reply to: DaRAGE

And? Every Aviation related source agrees with them. And these are sources that use their own independent sources and writers. The initial story came through the Wall Street Journal, but it’s been picked up by just about every source out there.