Airworthiness Directives; General Electric Company GE90 Series Turbofan Engines

Samenvatting

This proposal would require revisions to the Life Limits Section of the manufacturer's Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA) for General Electric Company (GE) GE90 series turbofan engines to include required enhanced inspection of selected critical life-limited parts at each piece-part exposure. This proposal would also require an air carrier's approved continuous airworthiness maintenance program to incorporate these inspection procedures. Air carriers with an approved continuous airworthiness maintenance program would be allowed to either maintain the records showing the current status of the inspections using the record keeping system specified in the air carrier's maintenance manual, or establish an acceptable alternate method of record keeping. This proposal is prompted by an FAA study of in-service events involving uncontained failures of critical rotating engine parts which indicated the need for improved inspections. The improved inspections are needed to identify those critical rotating parts with conditions, that if allowed to continue in service, could result in uncontained failures. The actions specified by this proposed AD are intended to prevent critical life