High aftermarket demand is antipated for the Trent XWB powering the Airbus A350 (pictured).
Operators of certain Trent XWB engines installed on Airbus A350-900s could face new enhanced blade inspections per a proposed airworthiness directive (AD) issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency on July 9.
The proposed AD affects intermediate pressure compressor (IPC) Rotor 1 blades that were close to their first planned refurbishment shop visits.
Effected engines include the Trent XWB-75, -79, -79B and -84, which are the earliest certified variants of this engine.
Rolls-Royce Alert Non-Modification Service Bulletin Trent XWB 72-AK632 previously spelled out inspection instructions for these blades, which EASA consequently issued as AD 2020-0277 to require them. Since then, Rolls-Royce issued an inspection bulletin outlining enhanced crack measuring and operational criteria for cracked blades.
This proposed AD would supersede the previous one and mandates the enhanced instructions, which would require operators to inspect blades before logging 2,300 engine flight cycles, or within 50 engine flight cycles after Dec. 25, 2020 (which was the data of the of the original AD).
If cracks are found, the engine would need to be removed not later than 200 engine flight cycles, depending on the remaining material between the end of the crack and the bottom of the blade root.
Aviation Week Network’s Fleet Discovery shows 1,108 A350s in service.
EASA is accepting comments for this proposed AD through Aug. 6 ([email protected]).
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