Three weeks ago, I wrote about a Korean Air flight aborting takeoff due to an engine fire at Tokyo Haneda Airport, where I also became a victim, and took photos of relevant personnel checking the engine. I assumed the investigation would take a long time, but surprisingly, the Japan Transport Safety Board released an inspection report yesterday regarding airframe HL7534. Through a teardown investigation of the engine, it was discovered that damage had occurred to the turbine disk; debris detached and penetrated the engine cowling.

Therefore, the Japan Transport Safety Board issued a notice requiring airlines using the same model Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines to perform a manual inspection of that turbine disk section.

According to NHK’s report, this engine turbine disk damage incident is the first of its kind to be discovered. I don’t know if it was just bad luck for Korean Air, or if there was a problem with their maintenance procedures, but in any case, it will take time to continue investigating the specific cause.

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