Pratt & Whitney Engines Need Crack Checks Starting Soon
Published Date: 3/4/2025
Rule
Summary
If you fly planes with certain Pratt & Whitney engines, listen up! Starting April 8, 2025, the FAA requires special crack inspections on a key engine part to keep flights safe. If cracks show up, that part must be replaced—so airlines should plan for these checks and possible fixes soon.
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 4 costs, 0 mixed.
Mandatory AUSI inspections at piece-part exposure
If your airplane has a Pratt & Whitney PW1519G/PW1521G/PW1521GA/PW1521G-3/PW1524G/PW1524G-3/PW1525G/PW1525G-3/PW1919G/PW1921G/PW1922G/PW1923G/PW1923G-A engine with HPC 7th-stage axial rotor P/N 30G5307, you must perform an angled ultrasonic inspection (AUSI) for cracks at the next piece-part exposure after April 8, 2025 and again at every subsequent piece-part exposure. The AD requires following the PW Alert Service Bulletins listed in the rule for how to do the AUSIs.
Immediate removal and replacement for crack indications
If any crack indication is found during an AUSI, the HPC 7th-stage axial rotor must be removed before further flight and replaced with a part eligible for installation. The FAA estimates replacement labor at 1 hour plus parts cost of $84,640, for a total replacement cost per product of $84,725.
Short compliance window for specific serial-numbered rotors
For rotors with serial numbers listed in Table 1 of the specified PW service bulletins that have not had an AUSI before April 8, 2025, you must perform an AUSI at the next HPC engine shop visit after April 8, 2025, but not to exceed 10,000 part cycles since new, or within 100 flight cycles after April 8, 2025, whichever occurs later, and then at each piece-part exposure thereafter.
FAA estimated affected engines and compliance costs
The FAA estimates this AD affects 121 engines on U.S. airplanes. The agency estimates each AUSI will cost 20 work-hours at $85/hour for $1,700 per engine (total estimated cost to U.S. operators for initial AUSIs = $205,700) and estimates an on-condition replacement cost of $84,725 per engine if replacement is required.
New zero-time rotors inspected at production OK to install
A new zero-time HPC 7th-stage axial rotor, P/N 30G5307, that passed an AUSI at new part production is considered a part eligible for installation and does not require repeating the AUSI before installation. The AD notes these production inspections are identified in the part's original manufacturing record and can be found using PW's Vital Statistics Logbook lookup tool.
Short-term reinspection exception for recently scanned rotors
If an HPC 7th-stage axial rotor has accumulated 100 flight cycles or less since its last AUSI, you do not need to reinspect it until the next shop visit, provided it was not damaged during removal. This postpones an immediate AUSI for rotors with recent scans.
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