French authorities ask public to find parts of Swiss plane engine
France’s aviation safety body has called on the public to assist in the recovery of engine parts of a Swiss International Airlines plane that fell from the aircraft in mid-flight last month.
The French air safety investigation authority for civil aviationExternal link (BEA) has appealed for help in recovery of missing engine parts of the Airbus A220 (formerly Bombardier C-series) plane. On July 25, the aircraft experienced engine failure while on a routine flight between Geneva and London Heathrow. Pilots shut down the engine and diverted the plane to the Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris.
“Post-flight examination of the engine revealed that the low-pressure compressor stage 1 rotor was missing,” said an incident report by the BEA.
On Tuesday, BEA appealed to the public via Twitter to help aid the recovery of the missing parts of the American-made Pratt &Whitney PW1524G engine on behalf of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
⚠️ Call for witnesses: serious incident to the @airbusExternal link #A220External link HB-JCM @flyswissExternal link from 25/07/19 / ground search of pieces in the @bfc_regionExternal link Bourgogne-Franche-Comté area. https://t.co/t5dppOZH4IExternal link @DGACExternal link @NTSBExternal link @NTSB_NewsroomExternal link @prattandwhitneyExternal link pic.twitter.com/DuArH1R6UEExternal link
— BEA ✈️ 🚁🛩 🇫🇷 (@BEA_Aero) August 20, 2019External link
They are most likely to have fallen in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté area in eastern France.
“On behalf of the NTSB, the BEA is issuing a call for witnesses regarding engine parts that may have fallen in an unoccupied wooded area near the towns of Perrigny-sur-Armancon and Cry,” said details linked to the tweet.
The missing parts are made of titanium and do not exceed 30cm in length. It is very rare for an aircraft to lose engine parts in flight, according to the BEA. In 2017, part of one of the A380-800 engines of a flight between Paris and Los Angeles had stalled in mid-air over Greenland. A 150 kg chunk from this engine was recently found under four metres of snow and ice in the middle of a crevasse.
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