Boeing grounds entire 777X test fleet after discovering engine defect

Boeing has been forced to ground its entire 777X test fleet - the latest in a series of blows to the embattled manufacturer that's lasted several years.

The 777X is Boeing's latest and most state-of-the-art aircraft, was supposed to start commercial service in 2020.

That timeline has since been pushed back until 2025, as the discovery - a failed component connected to the jet's engine - threatens to hamper it even further.

The find was made over the weekend, after of the test planes landed in Hawaii, bearing damage on an important component that connects the engine to the structure of the aircraft.

Subsequent inspections found the same cracks on two other active test plane's engines. The news service to first report the details was the Air Current, spurring a statement from Boeing Monday.

'During scheduled maintenance, we identified a component that did not perform as designed,' the statement sent to DailyMail.com read.

'Our team is replacing the part and capturing any learnings from the component and will resume flight testing when ready.

'We are keeping the FAA fully informed on the issue and have shared information with our customers.'

The malfunction comes weeks after the FAA cleared test flights for long-awaited 777X aircraft.

It features new GE9X engines, new composite wings, and increased cabin width and seating from its forebears.

The part in question connects to the GE9X engines, which are made by General Electric (GE).

It's made by Boeing and is unique to the 777X, made of heavy titanium and called a 'thrust link.'

It's distinct to the plane in part because of a partnership between the companies that began in 2014, which saw GE become Boeing's sole engine maker for larger jets like the 777X.

In an effort to save fuel, the companies worked to make crats more wedded to specific engine models for their planes, in a bid to build more-efficient machines that would benefit both carriers and customers.

But this created less competition between carrier customers, a concept some, Steven Udvar-Hazy, the CEO of aircraft leasing company Air Lease Corporation, bemoaned at the time.

He cited how it diminished bargaining power for carrier customers apart from the ones working with firms like Boeing and Airbus, who would save money from the deals.

Paul Adams, the head of Pratt & Whitney, pointed out that as there planes get more technically sophisticated, 'the optimization of the engine and the aircraft becomes more relevant,' as the equipment meant to mount the engines on wings and the rest of the plane are integrated to minimize drag and increase fuel efficiency.

The 'thrust link' meets this criteria, and is responsible for transferring the thrust of the engine to the airframe, through a titanium link mounted on a pylon beneath the wings.

In its statement to DailyMail.com, Boeing reiterated that each of the plane's two engines boast two of the parts, 'so there is redundancy.'

A rep further pointed out that the part is custom to the 777-9, one of two 777X variants, bigger than the 384-seat 777-8, with 426 seats.

The GE-9X itself is an enormous engine, weighing about 11 tons and featuring a front fan made by GE that, at 11 feet in diameter, is the biggest of its kind.

The 777-9, meanwhile, first flew in 2020, but the FAA has yet to grant it full certification, as deliveries continue to be well behind schedule. 

In 2019, the fuselage of one the aircraft completely ruptured in pressure tests, a setback that contributed to the delay of the long-haul jet by several months,  sources told AFP at the time.

Already mired in the crisis surrounding its 737 MAX, at the time, images showed the fuselage skin ripping wide open and causing the passenger door to fall out, during tests that deliberately took stress to extremes to ensure the strength of construction materials. 

As a result of the incident, the plane sustained damage behind the wing, as several sources, who insisted on anonymity, told AFP that the wing was damaged when Boeing put the aircraft body through pressure tests.

'There was a structure around the exit door that also blew off during the tests, which means there was a structure failure,' said one of the sources of the September 2019 test.

'There was a depressurization of the aft fuselage; the structure that supports the door blew off,' added a second person. 'It was not just the door; it's very serious.'

Since then, Boeing planes, like the 737, have continued to experience technical failures, with that plane grounded by the FAA for two years following two crashes in 2018 and 2019 that collectively killed 346.

Clearing them to fly again in 2021, officials deemed the crashes to be the result of a combination of oversight, design flaws, and inaction by Boeing brass. 

A door blowing off a brand-new 737 in January, however, sparked a renewed probe by the DOJ - one