An Icelandair Boeing 757-200 was forced to return to Reykjavík on Sunday after the flight deck received an (RB211) fault indication. The nearly 30-year-old aircraft, registration number TF-ISD, was performing flight FI-510 from Keflavík International Airport (KEF) to Hamburg Airport (HAM) with 150 people onboard.
As the plane was cruising at 31,000 feet around 120 nautical miles from the coast of Iceland, the crew received an engine error message and immediately shut the engine down. As per procedures, they took the aircraft down to 21,000 feet and returned to Keflavík for a safe landing on runway 10 around 55 minutes after departure.
A replacement Boeing 757-200 registration TF-ISY was brought in to ferry the passengers to Germany, arriving in Hamburg with a delay of about three hours. According to the aviation website The Aviation Herald, the aircraft with the faulty engine was still on the ground in Iceland some 12 hours after returning to its home base.
About the RB211 engine
Initially designed by Rolls-Royce for the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, the RB21 first entered service in 1972 and was at the time the only three-spool engine. The introduction of the RB211 signaled Rolls-Royce's arrival as a significant player in the aero-engine industry, turning the British firm into a global leader.
The RB211 was later developed into the RB211-535C and was selected as the engine to launch the Boeing 757. The type entered service with Eastern Airlines in 1983 with company president Frank Borman calling the -535C the finest airline engine in the world.
Icelandair cuts Boeing 737 MAX order
Last Wednesday, Icelandair announced that it was cutting its Boeing 737 MAX order by four planes and revising the remaining six deliveries. The revised order is in line with a settlement agreed with Boeing as compensation due to the Icelandic flag carrier following the grounding of the MAX after two fatal accidents.
Icelandair had six Boeing 737 MAX aircraft delivered before the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes. The remaining six Boeing 737 MAX orders will now be delivered to Icelandair between the second quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.
Other Icelandair news
In other Icelandair related news, Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir announced that, starting from Wednesday, August 19, every person arriving in Iceland will be tested for the coronavirus at the border. People visiting the Nordic nation will be required to quarantine for four to five days before being tested a second time for the COVID-19 virus.
The decision to do two coronavirus tests was made in response to several reported outbreaks of the virus on the island since the middle of July. The country's leading epidemiologist describes double testing as being the best way to curtail the pandemic. For all up to date information, we recommend visiting the official Government of Iceland website for all COVID-19 related news and requirements.
Have you flown on Icelandair recently? If so, we would love to hear what it is like and how they are handling COVID-19.