UK and US take very different perspectives | Jet a success with airlines cutting costs | Rolls-Royce engines: two incidents in a year | How ice crystals blocked the flow of fuel

Dozens of passenger jets using Heathrow have a potentially fatal engine flaw, creating a “high probability” of another failure like the one that caused last year’s British Airways crash, according to the American air safety watchdog.

Rolls-Royce, which makes the engines, is working on a safety modification but the Boeing 777s will remain in service with the flaw for another 18 months.

Until the change is made, more than 220 Boeing 777s with Rolls-Royce engines, including 15 operated by BA, will continue to be vulnerable to ice in the fuel supply causing a loss of power in the engines.

The US National Transportation Safety Board highlighted the danger in a report yesterday. The British Air Accidents Investigation Branch also issued a report yesterday on the problem but avoided mentioning the continuing risk to passengers.

The 152 people on board a BA 777 had a narrow escape in January last year when the aircraft lost power in both engines during final approach and crashed on to grass just inside Heathrow’s perimeter fence. The aircraft’s landing gear was ripped off but only one passenger was seriously hurt thanks to the skills of co-pilot John Coward and Captain Peter Burkill.

Another 777 with Rolls-Royce engines, operated by Delta Airlines, lost engine power in almost exactly the same way last November after ice blocked the fuel supply. The pilots managed to take emergency action to correct the failure, known as engine rollback. This incident occurred despite Boeing introducing new safety procedures last September that it claimed had solved the problem.

The US safety board said yesterday: “With two of these rollback events occurring within a year, we believe that there is a high probability of something similar happening again.” It said that “the only acceptable solution to this safety vulnerability” was to redesign the flawed component in the engine.

Rolls-Royce admitted that the component, the fuel/oil heat exchanger, was flawed but said that the replacement part had to be tested and certified and would not be ready for installation for up to 12 more months.

Other airlines operating 777s with Rolls-Royce engines include Singapore Airlines and American Airlines.

The board recommended that airlines should be compelled to fit the new part within six months of it being available for installation, meaning that 777s could continue flying with the flaw until August next year.

Rolls-Royce is hoping to accelerate the modification programme to begin installation before next winter, when the risk of ice forming in the fuel system is much greater. It declined, however, to set any deadline for removing the flawed components. “We are working closely with the relevant airworthiness authorities to certify and deliver this modification as soon as possible,” it said in a statement.

British Airways said that it would not be withdrawing any 777s from service. “Absolutely not. That’s not something that’s been suggested in any of the reports,” a spokesman said, adding: “We wouldn’t operate any aircraft if it was unsafe to do so.”

The spokesman said that BA, in common with all operators of 777s with Rolls-Royce engines, had taken a number of actions to reduce the risk of ice building up in the fuel supply, including ordering pilots to accelerate at certain points on long flights through cold air to increase fuel supply.

The board said that the precautions, while reducing the risk of engine power loss, could be a dangerous distraction for pilots. “They add complexity to flight crew operations. Because the recovery procedure requires a descent, the aircraft may be exposed to other risks,” it said.

In a separate report on the BA crash, the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch said that more research was needed into why ice accumulated in the fuel supply.It said that mixing an anti-icing additive into aviation fuel was one possible solution but this “has many drawbacks”, including the need for more regular maintenance.

The problem of ice blockages has grown in recent years with the popularity of ultra-long-haul flights over the poles, meaning that many more aircraft are flying at a high altitude in extremely cold air for several hours.

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