Engine inspection ordered following AN-124 incident
29 / 03 / 2021
Ukrainian authorities have ordered inspections of D-18T series three engines after a Volga-Dnepr AN-124 last year suffered an uncontained engine fan-disc failure.
The country’s aviation administration said that the preliminary investigation into the incident identified that the source of the engine failure was the destruction of the fan disk.
Thе administration requires that a one-time inspection of the fan disk for D-18T series three engines is carried out within six months or when the engine reaches 250 hours.
“If during the inspection the defects of the fan disk are detected, the fan wheel must be replaced with the serviceable one,” the administration said.
The engines are used on AN-124 and AN-225 aircraft. Civil operators of the AN-124 aircraft include Antonov Airlines, Volga-Dnepr and Maximus, while the AN-225 is operated by Antonov Airlines.
Following the incident on November 13, the Volga-Dnepr group took the decision to ground its 12 AN-124s on safety grounds. They began flying again in late December.
The aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at Tolmachevo Airport in Novosibirsk, Russia, when it suffered an uncontained engine fan disk failure of series D-18T, which resulted in engine failure and the loss of control systems. The incident did not result in any loss of life.
Following the incident, the carrier said its AN-124 fleet would remain grounded until an investigation by the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport, which seeks to identify the cause of the incident, is complete.
Commenting on the incident at the time, the carrier said: “On November 13, 2020, soon after take-off, the airplane suffered the uncontained engine fan disk failure of series D-18T, which resulted in engine failure and the loss of control systems.
“Carrying 84 tonnes of cargo with full fuel tanks, suffering engine failure and loss of control elements, the crew managed to avert the disaster, make a 180-degree landing.”
