Damage to fan blade in United Boeing 777 engine consistent with metal fatigue -- NTSB

U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt said Monday that damage to a fan blade in a Pratt & Whitney engine that failed in a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 is consistent with metal fatigue, according to a preliminary assessment.

U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt said Monday that damage to a fan blade in a Pratt & Whitney engine that failed in a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 is consistent with metal fatigue, according to a preliminary assessment. At a news briefing, Sumwalt said it is not clear whether Saturday's failure of the PW4000 engine shortly after takeoff is consistent with another engine failure on another Hawaii-bound United flight in February 2018 that was attributed to a fractured fan blade.

The fan blade will be examined on Tuesday after being flown to a Pratt & Whitney laboratory where it will examine under the supervision of NTSB investigators. Sumwalt said the incident was not considered an uncontained engine failure because the containment ring contained the parts as they were flying out.