Last month, on July 29th, a Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Boeing 767-300 experienced a "loud bang" coming from one of its engines as it climbed out of its hub in Kyiv. Following the occurrence, the engine was shut down and the aircraft returned to Kyiv.

Incident details

The UIA Boeing 767-300 had registration UR-GEC and was performing flight PS271 from Kyiv, Ukraine to Bangkok, Thailand. According to Aviation Herald, the aircraft had reached an altitude of 4000 feet when a loud bang was heard from the right-hand engine.

Following the bang, "N1 indications for the right-hand engine dropped to 20%", and the EGT had increased to twice the maximum limit, the Aviation Herald reports. "On many jet engines, N1 is the primary indication of engine thrust" while EGT (exhaust gas temperature) is "the temperature of the turbine exhaust gases as they leave the turbine unit," says aviation reference site SKYbrary.
Due to these abnormalities, the crew performed its checklists and proceeded to shut the engine down. The plane then made its return to Kyiv for "a safe overweight landing" approximately 20 minutes after departure.

Post-incident investigation results

Following the incident, Ukraine's National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation of Ukraine (NBAAI) came to the conclusion that the low-pressure compressor rotor was found to have jammed.
Furthermore, this occurrence is being investigated by the airline, UIA, and engine manufacturer. According to Airfleets, the aircraft uses two GE CF6-80C2B6F engines. Therefore, General Electric would be the engine manufacturer looking into the matter.
Finally, it was reported that the NBAAI did not officially open an investigation of its own.

The aircraft and the UIA fleet

The aircraft involved, UR-GEC, is a 26.9-year-old Boeing 767-300ER. According to SeatGuru, the aircraft is configured to offer three classes of seating: 12 in business, 38 premium economy, and 211 in economy.

UR-GEC is almost 27 years old. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

According to Wikipedia, the UIA fleet is relatively small. The airline has another three 767-300ER aircraft as well as:

  • Three Boeing 777-200ERs
  • 24 Boeing 737-800s
  • Three Boeing 737-900s

In addition to this, for smaller regional jets, UIA uses seven Embraer E190/195 jets. There are also three Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets on order for the airline.

UIA has a total fleet size of 42 aircraft with three on order. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The Boeing 767

The Boeing 767 itself is a fairly old model of aircraft no longer in production for passenger travel (not the case for cargo/freighter variants). In fact, British Airways retired its last 767 last November.

All three U.S. airlines still utilize the aircraft. Despite their age, there are investments going into extending their lives. Delta’s fleet of Boeing 767-400s are getting refurbished and these new cabins will roll out this coming November. United Airlines is in the process of retrofitting its Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with as many as 46 Polaris Business class seats.

Conclusion

We reached out to both Ukraine International Airlines as well as General Electric for comment on the situation. However, at the time of publishing, we have yet to hear back from either company. We'll update this article should we get any response.

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