Incident: General Electric Engine Failures on Boeing Aircraft: Inspection Recommendations

Published Date: 2012-09-17

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident involving General Electric's new GEnx-1B and GEnx-2B engines occurred in July and August [14271]. Therefore, the software failure incident happened in July and August of the same year as the article publication, which is 2012.
System unknown
Responsible Organization unknown
Impacted Organization 1. General Electric engines on Boeing 787 and 747-8 aircraft [14271]
Software Causes unknown
Non-software Causes 1. The failure incidents were caused by a crack in the fan midshaft of the General Electric engines used in Boeing 787 and 747-8 aircraft [14271].
Impacts unknown
Preventions 1. Implementing more rigorous testing procedures during the manufacturing and assembly process of the General Electric engines could have potentially prevented the failures [14271]. 2. Conducting regular and thorough inspections of the engines before flight, as recommended by the NTSB, could have helped detect any potential issues early on [14271]. 3. Utilizing ultrasonic inspection methods on all engines before flight and performing repeat inspections at regular intervals could have aided in identifying and addressing any cracks in the fan midshaft before they led to engine failures [14271].
Fixes 1. Implementing ultrasonic inspections on all engines before flight and conducting repeat inspections of the fan midshaft at regular intervals to detect potential cracks [14271].
References 1. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) [14271] 2. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) [14271] 3. General Electric (GE) [14271] 4. Boeing [14271]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring unknown The articles do not mention any software failure incidents related to either one_organization or multiple_organization.
Phase (Design/Operation) design Unknown
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system The software failure incident reported in the provided article [14271] is related to a mechanical failure in General Electric's new GEnx engines used in Boeing 787 and 747-8 aircraft. This incident falls under the category of within_system failure as it was caused by issues within the engine design and manufacturing process, specifically related to cracks in the fan midshaft of the engines. The article mentions that General Electric has identified the cause of the cracks and has made changes to the manufacturing and assembly process to address the issue. The NTSB is recommending inspections and repeat inspections of the fan midshaft to prevent potential engine failures [14271].
Nature (Human/Non-human) unknown The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to non-human actions or human actions. Therefore, the information about both options is unknown.
Dimension (Hardware/Software) unknown (a) The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to hardware issues [14271]. (b) The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to software issues [14271].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) unknown The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to either a malicious or non-malicious objective. Therefore, the information regarding the objective of the software failure incident is unknown.
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) unknown Unknown
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) unknown The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to development incompetence or accidental factors.
Duration unknown The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to either a permanent or temporary duration. Therefore, the duration of the software failure incident is unknown based on the provided articles.
Behaviour omission, value, other (a) crash: The articles do not mention any software crashes leading to the failure incidents reported [14271]. (b) omission: The failure incidents reported in the articles are related to engine failures in Boeing 787 and 747-8 aircraft with General Electric engines. The incidents involved failures in the engines, such as metal debris being ejected out of the engine during a routine engine run-up, cracks in the fan midshaft, and loss of power in one of the engines during takeoff. These incidents indicate the omission of the engines to perform their intended functions properly [14271]. (c) timing: The articles do not indicate any timing-related failures in the software systems associated with the engine failures in the Boeing aircraft [14271]. (d) value: The engine failures reported in the articles point to the engines performing their intended functions incorrectly, leading to issues such as metal debris ejection, cracks in critical components, and loss of power during takeoff [14271]. (e) byzantine: The articles do not mention any byzantine behavior of the software systems in the context of the engine failures in the Boeing aircraft [14271]. (f) other: The other behavior observed in the software systems related to the engine failures could be the occurrence of unexpected anomalies or defects in the engine components, leading to the failures experienced in the Boeing 787 and 747-8 aircraft [14271].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence unknown The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to the consequences listed in the question. Therefore, the consequence of the software failure incident is 'unknown'.
Domain transportation, manufacturing The software failure incident reported in the news article [14271] is related to the transportation industry. The incident involved failures in General Electric engines used in Boeing 787 and 747-8 aircraft, leading to recommendations for inspections by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The failures in the engines resulted in safety concerns and the need for immediate action to prevent potential multiple engine failures on a single aircraft [14271].

Sources

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