Boeing and General Electric have notified airlines about a potential problem on 777 GE90-115B engines involving the 118 transfer gear boxes on engines made between September and March. Airlines have been told to inspect or replace the transfer gear boxes produced during the six-month period, ensuring that at least one engine on the plane has had an inspection or a replacement made before September.
The part, made by Italian company Avio SpA, are on about 26 in service 777-300ER jets and another 44 aircraft in production. There are more than 1,150 of the GE90-115B engines in service and the gearbox has been a reliable part for more than 15 years, GE said. The cause of the problem appears to be with an anomaly in the material that caused gears to separate, although the exact cause remains unknown, GE said.
GE is sending replacement parts to airlines.