AIRLINER’S TURBINE FAULT ANALYSED

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31016, 23 March 1966, Page 19

AIRLINER’S TURBINE FAULT ANALYSED

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) CANBERRA, March 22. Heat fatigue was probably the cause of a failure in an engine of an Ansett Boeing 727 aircraft during take-off from Sydney on March 16, the Minister for Civil Aviation (Mr R. W. Swartz) told Parliament today.

The reason for the failure had not been established, however, he said. The engine failed when a turbine blade in the first stage of the engine broke about 2i inches from the top. High Stresses

“Turbine blades are subject to high stresses at high temperatures and experience with all types of blades has been

that isolated failures of blades occur on infrequent occasions,” he said. “It is highly probable that these failures in the blades are of a creep or hot fatigue nature.

“It appears that a portion of the broken blade became wedged in the turbine housing and caused blades of the second stage turbine to become dislodged. “This resulted in a large number of blades passing through the final two stages, thereby removing even more blades. “This result from a turbine failure is unusual.

No Damage

“But is is significant that the aircraft suffered no damage and an uneventful landing was subsequently made.” Mr Swartz said that over the years Australian aircraft had experienced a number of turbine blade failures in various types of aircraft.

Almost without exception the pattern was that the broken blade passed through the remaining turbine stages without dislodging other blades. Sometimes aircraft had continued to operate after losing a turbine blade without the pilot being aware that this had happened until the engine was inspected on the ground.