Summary
- United Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner suffers engine failure after departing Singapore, lands back safely with no injuries reported.
- The incident involved an eight-year-old 787-9 Dreamliner powered by two GEnx engines, suggesting an uncontained failure.
- FAA investigating the incident linked to powdered metals contamination in GE engines, affecting more engines than previously thought.
A United Airlines 787 Dreamliner suffered an apparent uncontained engine failure after departing Singapore, forcing it to return to the airport. The aircraft landed safely before an inspection revealed a hole in the left engine cowling and engine case.
United 787 engine failure near Singapore
On Tuesday, a United Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner, registered as N27957, was operating Flight UA28 from Singapore Changi (SIN) to San Francisco (SFO) with 197 passengers and 14 crew onboard. Following an uneventful takeoff, the aircraft experienced a suspected uncontained engine failure to its left-hand engine around 30 minutes after departure.
Photo: Flightradar24
According to The AvHerald, pilots shut down the engine and descended from FL310 to FL150 before landing safely back in Singapore around 90 minutes after takeoff, with no injuries reported among the passengers or crew. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating, and in an accident and incident notice it stated,
“AIRCRAFT DEPARTED, SHORTLY AFTER REPORTED A #1 LEFT ENGINE FAILURE AND RETURNED TO AIRPORT, POST FLIGHT INSPECTION REVEALED A HOLE IN THE LEFT ENGINE COWLING AND ENGINE CASE, SINGAPORE.”
As per Cirium data, United Airlines operates two daily roundtrips between Singapore and San Francisco (UA1/2 and UA28/29), offering over 7,100 weekly seats between the two destinations. This route is served by its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, which can seat up to 257 passengers in three cabin classes – 48 in business, 21 in premium economy and 188 in economy. The aircraft involved in this incident is an eight-year-old 787-9 Dreamliner delivered to United in August 2015 – the plane remains on the ground at the time of publication.
GEnx engines
The airline’s Dreamliner fleet is powered by two GEnx engines, which is one of two engine options for the 787, along with Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000. At this stage, it isn’t confirmed if the United 787 suffered an uncontained failure, but the presence of a hole in the cowling and case would strongly suggest so. Engine failures are categorized as either contained – when part(s) fail but remain safely within the engine casing or exit through the tailpipe – or uncontained, which is when part(s) end up outside the engine, often at high speeds which can cause catastrophic structural damage to the plane.
Photo: Tada Images | Shutterstock
In an airworthiness directive (AD) issued in 2022, the FAA revealed that a small number of GE engines, including the GEnx, had been manufactured with powdered metals contaminated with iron inclusion. It then became clear that more engines were affected than previously thought following more AD’s. Simple Flying has reached out to United Airlines for comment and will update this story accordingly.
Previous incidents
According to AeroInside, the same plane was involved in an incident two years ago when its landing gear failed to retract after takeoff on a flight from Houston to London, forcing it to remain on the ground for almost 48 hours for maintenance. Just a few days prior to this incident, the plane had been forced to dump fuel and return to London due to an issue with an indicator light.
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