3 planes had engine troubles over past 2 months

By Lee Hyo-sik

Korean Air, the nation’s largest flagship carrier, has been warned over faulty engine maintenance by the government, following a series of incidents in which its airplanes were forced to make emergency landings due to engine problems.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said Monday that it had conducted an extensive safety check on airplanes operated by Korean Air from Oct. 25 to 29, after three of its planes had engine troubles and made emergency landings over the past two months.

After the five-day inspection, the ministry found that Korean Air kept an engine in operation longer than it should have, and did not promptly fix oil leaks. An engine of a Boeing 747 airplane is required to be inspected after five long-haul flights. But it had been in operation for a total of nine flights.

Additionally, engines of seven Boeing 747 and one Airbus 330 were found to have been leaking engine oil.

But the airline had not taken steps to promptly repair the problem.

Violation of safety regulations?

A ministry official said Korean Air has been notified of these findings, adding it will first wait for an explanatory response from Korean Air.

“If the airline is deemed to have violated flight safety regulations, it will be slapped with fines and other disciplinary actions,” the official said.

The official also said Korean Air should identify exactly what the problems are and the causes. “On top of that, the company needs to take a range of preventative measures to ensure flight safety.”

On Sept. 3, Korean Air’s B737 airplane bound for Incheon from Russia’s Irkutsk was forced to land at Beijing International Airport as one of its engines failed.

On Oct. 9, its B747 bound for San Francisco had to return to Incheon after takeoff, due to engine trouble. On Oct. 13, a B747 suffered unusual engine vibrations while landing at Anchorage International Airport.

In a preliminary response, Korean Air has said in a statement that it will accept the results of the government inspection of its aircrafts, stressing it will make every effort to prevent similar incidents from recurring.

At the same time, Korean Air also initially responded to the mishaps.

“After confirming with engineers of the engine manufacturer, we decided to use the engine for four more flights, as the oil leaks were within the allowable limit, which caused no operational risk,” it said.

The company then said it asked the manufacturer to replace the faulty B737 engine with a new one. “We are also trying to figure out what caused trouble to the engine of the B747 airplane bound for San Francisco, in cooperation with the manufacturer. The engine of the B747 that landed in Anchorage has been fixed,” it said.



대한항공 불량 정비 경고

대항항공은 잇단 엔진 고장으로 불시착한 사고로 인해 정부로부터 불량 정비 경고를 받았다.

교통부는 월요일 대한 항공이 지난 2개월에 걸쳐 3대의 항공기가 엔진 고장을 일으켜 비상착륙을 해
10월 25-29 이 항공사의 기체 안전도를 체크했다고 말했다.